Another ‘Donald Was Here’ action …..
It ain’t gonna last thankfully….
President Trump’s signature will appear on U.S. dollars later this year, the Treasury Department said on Thursday. The decision to have Mr. Trump’s John Hancock on America’s paper currency represented an unprecedented change, one that the department said was being made in honor of the United States’ 250th anniversary.
Mr. Trump is set to become the first sitting U.S. president to have his signature on the greenback. His name will appear alongside that of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. As a result, the U.S. treasurer, whose name has been on the currency for more than a century, will not appear on the currency.
“There is no more powerful way to recognize the historic achievements of our great country and President Donald J. Trump than U.S. dollar bills bearing his name, and it is only appropriate that this historic currency be issued at the semiquincentennial,” Mr. Bessent said in a statement.
The addition of Mr. Trump’s signature to dollars is the latest example of the president emblazoning national institutions with his personal brand as he looks to permanently imprint his legacy in American society…..
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In his first term, Mr. Trump had his signature added to millions of economic stimulus checks that were mailed to Americans during the pandemic.
The history of who gets to sign the money dates to 1861, when President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill allowing the Treasury secretary to delegate the treasurer of the United States to sign Treasury notes and bonds. According to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, 1914 was the first year that the Treasury secretary and the treasurer started signing the currency together.
During the Biden administration, there was a delay in adding Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen’s signature to the money because President Joseph R. Biden Jr. was slow to appoint a new treasurer.
It is not clear whether Mr. Trump’s signature will appear on all currency notes. The Treasury Department did not respond to a request for comment….
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Larry Felix, who served as director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing from 2006 to 2015, said that the addition of Mr. Trump’s signature was an “unusual” move but noted previous discussions about adding the signature of the Federal Reserve chair to the currency.
Because future Treasury secretaries might remove the president’s signature from the notes, Mr. Felix said that those being printed with Mr. Trump’s name on them could become sought by collectors….
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Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a Republican economist who served in the administration of former President George W. Bush, questioned whether adding Mr. Trump’s signature to the currency served the national interest.
Noting that Mr. Trump has a full agenda and that fewer people are using cash, Mr. Holtz-Eakin added, “This may be the ultimate act of futility.”…
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