Trump’s signature to appear on US currency, Treasury says, ending 165-year tradition

WASHINGTON – US paper currency will bear President Donald Trump’s signature starting this summer, the first time a sitting president has signed American money, the Treasury Department said on March 26.

The redesigned notes, planned to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence, will also for the first time in 165 years drop the signature of the US treasurer, who reports to the Treasury Secretary and oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the US Mint and other Treasury functions.

The first US$100 bills with Mr Trump’s signature and that of US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will be printed in June, followed by other bills in subsequent months.

The new bills may take several weeks to circulate through banks.

The Treasury’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing is currently still producing notes bearing the signatures of former president Joe Biden’s Treasury secretary, Ms Janet Yellen, and then Treasurer Lynn Malerba.

Ms Malerba will be the last of an unbroken line of treasurers whose signatures have appeared on US federal currency since 1861, when it was first issued by the US government.

The signature change is the latest effort by the Trump administration and its allies to put the President’s name on buildings, institutions, government programmes, battleships and coins.

The design of a commemorative gold coin with Mr Trump’s image was approved by a federal arts panel whose members he appointed.

Mr Bessent said in a statement that the move was appropriate for the US’ 250th anniversary, given strong US economic growth, financial stability and “lasting dollar dominance” during Mr Trump’s second term.

“There is no more powerful way to recognise the historic achievements of our great country and President Donald J. Trump than US dollar bills bearing his name, and it is only appropriate that this historic currency be issued at the Semiquincentennial,” Mr Bessent said.

An effort for a circulating US$1 Trump coin was set back by laws prohibiting the depiction of living individuals on US coins.

A statute governing the printing of Federal Reserve notes gives the Treasury broad discretion to change designs to guard against counterfeiting.

The law requires keeping certain elements, including the words “In God We Trust” and only allows portraits of deceased individuals.

The overall designs of bills will not change, except for Mr Trump’s signature replacing the treasurer’s, Treasury officials said.

A mock-up of the US$100 bill with Mr Trump’s signature was not immediately available.

Ms Malerba, the former treasurer, declined comment on the Trump administration’s move.

Her predecessor Jovita Carranza, who served as treasurer in Mr Trump’s first term, called the change “a powerful symbol of American resilience, the enduring strength of free enterprise and the promise of continued greatness”.

The current treasurer, Mr Brandon Beach, whose name has not appeared on the currency, also issued a supportive statement, saying Mr Trump was the architect of a “golden age economic revival”.

Vanity Fair was the first to report the news. REUTERS