Lawmaker puts forward bill to prevent Trump’s image on US currency. What to know

Rep. Ritchie Torres, a New York Democrat, introduced legislation aimed at blocking President Donald Trump’s administration from issuing coins bearing the Republican leader’s own image.

The bill comes after the Treasury Department announced plans to mint $1 Trump coins, challenging long-standing U.S. laws prohibiting living individuals from appearing on American currency.

Introduced on Oct. 10, Torres’ legislation would explicitly “prohibit representations of a living President on United States coins or currency, and to prohibit representations of any living person on any United States currency.”

The measure would amend Title 31 of the U.S. Code, which already forbids the use of living presidents’ portraits on American currency. Under Section 5114, “Only the portrait of a deceased individual may appear on United States currency and securities.”

This provision is also established in another U.S. law.

The Thayer Amendment, passed in 1866, prohibits living individuals from appearing on U.S. currency, according to ABC News. It was passed after Spencer Clark, who led the National Currency Bureau, authorized 5-cent notes bearing his own portrait, according to Military.com.

Despite these laws, the Treasury Department is moving ahead with plans to mint $1 coins featuring Trump’s likeness for the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary.

The proposed coins feature an image of Trump holding his fist in the air surrounded by the words “FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT” — memorializing Trump’s response to the attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania. The other side depicts Trump’s profile.

In a post on X, the Treasury Department said Secretary Scott Bessent is authorized to take this action under the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020.

The act outlines programs for creating new coins celebrating the accomplishments of women or “monumental moments” in America’s history.

Specifically, the department pointed to a clause within the act which permits Bessent to issue coinage “with designs emblematic of the United States semiquincentennial.”

“On this momentous anniversary, there is no profile more emblematic for the front of this coin than that of our serving President, Donald J. Trump,” the department said.

However, the act says that “No head and shoulders portrait or bust of any person, living or dead, and no portrait of a living person may be included in the design on the reverse of specified coins.”

If the proposed coin is indeed put into circulation, it would not be the first time a sitting U.S. president has had his likeness on American currency.

In 1926 — in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence — a half dollar coin was minted bearing the likeness of then-President Calvin Coolidge.

“This coin marked the first time a U.S. President’s portrait appeared on a coin during his lifetime,” according to the U.S. Mint.

This story was originally published October 13, 2025 at 2:35 PM with the headline "Lawmaker puts forward bill to prevent Trump’s image on US currency. What to know."