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That hasn't happened for 150 yearsUS government wants to issue new $250 bill – with Donald Trump's face
It's sure to make Donald Trump smile: his own face on a banknote.
AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
No living person has been depicted on U.S. currency notes in over 150 years. That could change soon. The Trump administration apparently wants to issue a new $250 bill – with the portrait of the US President as the motif.
The US government is apparently pushing for a new $250 banknote to be issued bearing the image of President Donald Trump. It would be the first banknote in the United States with the likeness of a living person in more than 150 years, reports The Washington Post, citing current and former employees of the Treasury Department's Coinage and Printing Division. They reported that high-ranking representatives of the ministry had repeatedly called for the new banknote. Since 1866, depicting people who are still alive on banknotes has no longer been permitted.
British painter Iain Alexander told the newspaper that Trump himself had approved his proposals for the image on the banknote. It will contain the colors of the US flag and a logo for the 250th anniversary of the founding of the US state, which is celebrated on July 4th.
Last year, a bill for the $250 banknote was submitted to Congress – but it had no consequences. To date, the largest bill in circulation is the $100 bill.
A Treasury spokesman said the printer was carrying out “the necessary preparations and checks”. The head of the coinage and printing department, Patricia Solimene, was fired at the end of April. According to the report, she raised legal concerns.
In March, Solimene approved Donald Trump's signature on the future $100 bills – that was also a first. Since 1861, dollar bills have featured the signature of the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and the U.S. Treasurer, not the President. The planned $250 banknote is one of a number of plans to depict Trump on buildings or state symbols. Critics accuse the almost 80-year-old right-wing populist of operating an unprecedented cult of personality.
Sources used: lme/AFP
