From the Federal Bureau of Inevitability comes news that the U.S. Treasury Department has drafted a design for a $1 coin that will feature images of Donald Trump. Plans are for it to be minted and released in 2026 during the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence.
According to a Treasury Department statement, the design of the coin was overseen by U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach. If that name seems vaguely familiar, it may be because Beach is a former Georgia state senator who was involved in the aborted attempt to overturn that state’s 2020 election results.
When Beach heard Trump say, “I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. … Give me a break,” he thought that sounded like a great idea and tried to give Trump a break by creating some fake electors. As one does.
Beach is also semi-famous for shutting down the Georgia state Senate for two weeks by exposing that chamber’s members to Covid after testing positive for the disease. Obviously, being nominated by the now-president to be the guy in charge of U.S. currency was the next logical career step.
Beach’s personally approved design for the Donald Buck features Trump’s profile on one side of the coin, with the opposite side depicting him raising a clenched fist in front of an American flag beneath the words, “FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT.” I guess “TRUMP WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING” wouldn’t fit. Oh well. It can wait for the Trump $1,000 bill, I guess.
The accompanying official statement from the Treasury Department offered some more subtly nuanced words: “Despite the radical left’s forced shutdown of our government, the facts are clear: Under the historic leadership of President Donald J. Trump, our nation is entering its 250th anniversary stronger, more prosperous, and better than ever before. While a final $1 dollar coin design has not yet been selected to commemorate the United States’ semiquincentennial, this first draft reflects well the enduring spirit of our country and democracy, even in the face of immense obstacles.”
Speaking of immense obstacles, I for one am greatly looking forward to watching the president attempt to pronounce “semiquincentennial.” But I digress.
Not content with his department’s official statement on the new coin, Beach posted on X that the administration would share “more soon, once the obstructionist shutdown of the United States government is over.” So we’re clear on who the bad people are, right? Just checking. At least there was no mention of a Nobel Prize or Dear Leader’s club golf championships.
This monumental piece of presidential chutzpah got its start quite innocently, way back in those halcyon days of 2020, when a bipartisan (what!?) motion passed through Congress authorizing the Treasury Department to issue special $1 coins during the 2026 calendar year, which I’m sure seemed eons away at the time. According to the language of the bill, the coins were to be “emblematic of the United States semiquincentennial.”
We’re going to have to get used to that word, since it’s less than three months away, and there’s no way in hell this coin doesn’t get produced, despite the fact that there’s been a ban on living presidents appearing on U.S. currency since 1866. In addition, the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 states that dollar coins can only feature former presidents who have been dead for at least two years. Oops.
However, as has become quite obvious with all things Trump, laws are merely suggestions, briefly considered, perhaps, then quickly ignored. Why should it be any different in this instance? The restrictions against putting living presidents on currency were enacted so the U.S. wouldn’t look like a monarchy, where kings place their own likenesses on coins of the realm. Such quaint niceties no longer apply, and an obeisant GOP Congress and Senate will roll over with a quickness to render this piece of silver to their Caesar.
When asked by reporters last week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said she wasn’t sure if Trump was aware of the efforts to put his likeness on a coin. Right. Then she added, “I’m not sure if he’s seen it, but I’m sure he’ll love it,” which was perhaps the truest thing she’s said in her 10 months on the job.
