House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) on Thursday forcefully rejected reports that Trump administration officials are pressing the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to design a $250 bill with President Trump's portrait, dismissing the effort as a vanity project and promising to fight it.
“Hard No on a Trump $250 bill,” Jeffries wrote on X. “Get over yourself. The upcoming July 4th anniversary is not about a wannabe King. It's about celebrating the American journey.”
According to a report in The Washington Post, U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach and his senior adviser, Mike Brown, have since last year urged bureau staff to prepare prototypes of a $250 bill featuring Trump's image. Beach reportedly provided mock-up designs, one of which shows Trump's official presidential portrait at center, flanked by his signature and that of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
In an interview on SiriusXM’s “The Julie Mason Show,” Jeffries called the proposal “Monopoly money” and “fantasy.” He added, “We are going to do everything possible to make sure that this never happens. I mean, this is the most ridiculous thing in the world.”
The push has already sparked internal turmoil. Patricia Solimene, a U.S. Army veteran and former director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, was reassigned in April after resisting pressure from Beach and Brown, the latter of whom now serves as the bureau's acting director. British painter Iain Alexander, who said he designed the mock-up, told the Post he discussed the concept directly with the president.
Federal law prohibits living individuals from appearing on U.S. currency. Only an act of Congress can change that. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) introduced legislation in February 2025 to authorize the $250 bill with Trump's likeness, but the bill has stalled in the House Financial Services Committee.
During Thursday's White House press briefing, Bessent confirmed that Treasury employees have pushed for the designs, saying, “Yes, of course. But we prepare for everything if it gets passed, just like we were ready six months in advance for the One Big Beautiful Bill for tax guidance.” He criticized the Post’s reporting as “terribly written, terribly edited.”
The controversy adds to a growing list of clashes between Democrats and the Trump administration over symbolic and substantive issues. For more on the administration's broader agenda, see our coverage of Bessent's briefing on the Trump Accounts app launch and the GAO probe into disaster aid denials.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also weighed in, jabbing at the proposal in a separate statement. The Clinton jab underscores the bipartisan ridicule the plan has drawn.
