Trump publishes new image of $100 bill with his signature
President Donald Trump on Friday published a new image of a $100 bill with his signature, months after the Treasury Department announced that, for the first time, a sitting president's signature would appear on U.S. paper ballots.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in March that the administration planned to include Trump's signature on U.S. currency in honor of the United States' 250th birthday.
CNN has reached out to the Treasury to ask if $100 bills with Trump's signature are currently being printed.
The image shows the president's signature above Bessent's. Previously, the $100 bill bore the signatures of the Secretary of the Treasury and the Treasurer of the United States, but not that of the sitting president.
"The President's mark on history as the architect of America's Golden Age economic revival is undeniable. Imprinting his signature on American currency is not only appropriate, but also fully deserved," said U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach in the March announcement.
Trump has undertaken a personal project to put his name and image on a wide variety of US documents and landmarks.
His government has also placed his image, name, or both on a commemorative passport, national park passes, banners outside various agencies in Washington, cultural institutions such as the U.S. Institute of Peace, and special investment accounts for babies.
Florida also renamed Palm Beach International Airport in his honor.
Some members of Congress wanted to go further and put Trump's image on the coin, introducing a bill to include him on a 250th anniversary note. This outcome is much less likely, as it would require the support of Democratic senators in Congress.
The U.S. Code states that "only a portrait of a deceased person may appear on the currency and securities of the United States," but the House bill seeks to "create an exception for individuals who are or were President of the United States."
Earlier this year, officials at the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing were preparing prototypes of a $250 bill featuring Trump's portrait and signature. Bessent told CNN's Kaitlan Collins at a White House press briefing in May that he didn't think "there's anything inappropriate" about putting Trump's portrait on U.S. currency.
"I don't think there's anything inappropriate about having the president of the United States - the person who was president of the United States on the 250th anniversary note," Bessent said.
Asked by Collins whether political officials were involved, Bessent replied: "Yes, of course. But we have prepared for anything if it passes."
Source: CNN