Trump administration seeks to put president's face on new $250 bill

The Trump administration is pushing to place President Donald Trump's face on a new $250 bill, a move that would mark the first time a living U.S. president has appeared on American currency in more than 150 years — and one that appears to violate existing federal law.

The proposal, reported by the Washington Post, is part of a broader effort by the administration to attach Trump's name and likeness to federal institutions — a pattern that has drawn sharp criticism from lawmakers and civil liberties advocates.

Two Trump appointees at the Treasury Department urged Bureau of Engraving and Printing staff to prepare design prototypes for the note, according to the Washington Post. The proposed $250 denomination references the United States' 250th anniversary of independence, and a mock-up design was produced.

Bureau of Engraving and Printing Director Patricia Solimene raised legal objections to the plan. She was subsequently reassigned from her director position, the Washington Post reported.

Federal law has barred depictions of living persons on U.S. currency for more than 150 years. Legislation to authorize the new denomination was introduced in Congress last year but has remained idle.

Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, said the proposal amounted to the White House "stoking the president's ego," the Korea Times reported.

The currency push follows a series of moves by the administration to attach the president's image to public assets. Trump's likeness already appears on Department of Justice and Department of Agriculture banners and is set to be included in some U.S. passports. His name has been added to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the U.S. Institute of Peace.

A separate 24-carat gold commemorative coin for the nation's Semiquincentennial — already approved by the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts — will also feature Trump's image.

No legislation authorizing the $250 bill has passed Congress, and the proposal's fate is uncertain following Solimene's reassignment.