Trump's signature to appear on US currency, a first for a sitting president

Donald Trump will be the first sitting president in US history to have his signature on the nation's currency, the Treasury announced on Thursday. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images 2026-03-26T23:20:00.936Z Share Copy link Email Facebook WhatsApp X LinkedIn Bluesky Threads lighning bolt icon An icon in the shape of a lightning bolt.

Impact Link Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in. President Trump will be the first sitting US president to have his signature on the nation's currency. The move is symbolic of the nation's "fiscal strength" under Trump, the Treasury announced Thursday. Since Trump took office, the dollar has fallen amid sweeping tariffs and global conflict. AI-generated summary Summaries are generated by an AI model trained on Business Insider's articles. AI may make mistakes or provide inaccurate/incomplete information. We're unable to load that answer right now. Please try again. How does currency redesign affect politics? How do tariffs impact the US dollar's value? What are the implications of cash becoming partisan? What historical precedents exist for currency? Why might Trump's move be considered partisan? The US Treasury Department announced Thursday that President Donald Trump's signature will appear on future US paper currency, marking the first time a sitting president's name will be printed on American bills. Loading audio narration...

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in a press release, framed the move as symbolic, saying US currency should reflect the country's economic standing under Trump's leadership and serve as a marker of the nation's "fiscal strength and stability."The decision breaks with long-standing precedent. For more than a century, US banknotes have carried the signatures of Treasury officials — not the president. The Treasury said the move was to commemorate the coming 250th anniversary of American independence, as the administration pursues a broader effort to mark the milestone through currency and coin redesigns.New bills bearing Trump's signature, along with that of the Treasury Secretary, will begin being issued at the semiquincentennial, the Treasury said. It's unclear which bills will bear Trump's signature or how long the initiative is expected to last. "The decision for Trump to end years of precedent of Treasury Secretaries signing bills is another piece of evidence that Trump is trying to brand everything in his name, even though it is unusual and in the mold of what more undemocratic leaders typically do in other countries," Christian Grose, a professor of political science and public policy at the University of Southern California, told Business Insider.Grose said the move risks making using cash a partisan act, potentially making Trump's supporters more enthusiastic about cash payments, and Democrats more likely to use electronic payments. The US dollar has faced downward pressure in recent months, driven in part by sweeping tariffs that have rattled global trade and increased import costs, as well as the ongoing war in Iran, which has heightened geopolitical risk and unsettled currency markets.Economists have warned that both factors can weaken demand for the dollar by slowing growth and increasing uncertainty.