Trump Set to Make History as His Signature Will Appear on US Dollar Bills, Starting with $100 Notes in June

Donald Trump will become the first sitting US president to have his signature featured on American paper currency, with redesigned banknotes scheduled to enter production this summer.

The US Treasury Department confirmed on Thursday that the president's signature will be printed alongside that of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The redesign breaks a 165-year precedent by entirely removing the signature of the US Treasurer, an official who reports directly to the Treasury Secretary and oversees operations including the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the US Mint.

Trump Signatures on New Hundred Dollar Bills

Printing begins this June with the $100 note, while other denominations are scheduled to follow later in the year. According to the Treasury, these newly signed bills will likely take a few weeks to make their way into the commercial banking system.

Officials timed the rollout of these redesigned notes to coincide with America's 250th anniversary of independence. Bessent linked the decision to the nation's economic performance, citing financial stability and growth during Trump's second term in the White House.

'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,' Bessent said in a released statement.

Legal Rules Guide United States Currency Redesign

Statutes governing Federal Reserve notes grant the Treasury broad authority to amend currency designs, primarily to implement security measures against counterfeiting.

Federal legislation strictly prevents the Treasury from featuring the faces of living individuals on American money. Officials are also legally bound to keep certain long-standing design features intact, such as the phrase 'In God We Trust'.

Treasury officials noted that the foundational design of the banknotes will remain otherwise unaltered, bar the signature swap. A visual mock-up of the updated $100 note featuring the president's name was not immediately available for publication.

Trump Signature Ends Long Federal Currency Tradition

The redesign completely wipes away a precedent that has survived since 1861, the very year the US government started issuing paper notes. As a result, Lynn Malerba, appointed under former President Joe Biden, will go down in history as the final US Treasurer to leave her mark on American money.

The Treasury is presently continuing to print existing note designs bearing the signatures of both Malerba and former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. Malerba declined to comment on the administration's decision.

However, her predecessor, Jovita Carranza, who served as Treasurer during Trump's first administration, defended the redesign. She described the updated notes as 'a powerful symbol of American resilience, the enduring strength of free enterprise and the promise of continued greatness'.

Brandon Beach, the current US Treasurer whose signature has not yet been featured on any circulating currency, also expressed support for the change, referring to Trump as the architect of a 'golden age economic revival'.

President Expands Legacy Across American Government Assets

The inclusion of the presidential signature forms part of a wider push by the Trump administration and its political allies to place the president's name on federal buildings, government institutions, warships and state programmes.

Last week, a federal arts panel appointed by the president approved designs for a commemorative gold coin bearing Trump's likeness. A parallel proposal to mint a standard circulating $1 coin featuring the president was recently blocked by legislation that prevents the depiction of living people on US coinage.