Reed: New Trump Coin Commemorates His Vanity & Lack of Respect for the Rule of Law

PROVIDENCE, RI -- Rather than addressing the affordability crisis and lowering prices, the Trump Administration today rolled out a new $1 gold-colored coin with President Donald Trump's face on it.

In keeping with the logic of 'Trumponomics,' a 25-coin roll of the new $1 coins is on sale for $61. Or a 100-coin bag can be purchased for $154.50. Or, for those visiting the U.S. Mint itself, vending machines now offer the $1 coins for $5 each.

According to the U.S. Treasury, the 0.286 oz. Trump $1 coin does not contain any precious metal and the golden coloring is derived from manganese brass. The composition of the metal coins consists of approximately 6% zinc, 3.5% manganese, 2% nickel, and an unknown amount of copper.

Today, U.S. Senator Jack Reed stated: "This is another wasteful, distasteful Trump vanity project funded at taxpayer expense that does nothing to help Americans and only serves to stroke President Trump's fragile ego. The Trump Administration's reckless policies continue driving up prices and making everyday goods less affordable. He's driven up gas prices, taken away access to health care, added a tariff tax on groceries, and destabilized the U.S. economy. He's imposing economic hardship across all fifty states but now he wants people to buy his metallic $1 coin for a few extra bucks in order to feed his toxic narcissism. These coins featuring a sitting president never should have been minted. It's just another example of how this Republican majority refuses to stand up to President Trump and how he uses the courts to run out the clock instead of adhering to the law. The vast majority of people who bought Trump's crypto meme coin lost significant money. I guess now we'll have to wait and see how this one fairs. But the process was shameful. What this coin really commemorates is Donald Trump's vanity and lack of respect for the Constitution and the rule of law."

In December of 2025, Senator Reed joined U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and several Senate Democrats in sending a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urging him to reject the proposed designs for the Semiquincentennial dollar coin featuring the likeness of President Donald Trump, noting: "American lawmakers throughout history have reaffirmed the time-honored tradition of not circulating U.S. currency with images of currently elected officials."

According to federal law: "Only the portrait of a deceased individual may appear on United States currency and securities." But in January, the coin's design was given the stamp of approval by the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, whose members were all appointed directly by Donald Trump and do not have a background in fine arts, currency, or the law. However, the design was never reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC), as required by federal law. The CCAC is an independent 11-person committee established by Congress.

President Trump becomes just the second sitting president to have his likeness struck on a coin, following President Calvin Coolidge, who appeared silhouetted behind the bust of President George Washington on a silver half-dollar coin for the United States' 150th anniversary. While the U.S. Mint produced one million of those commemorative half dollars, 860,000 of them ultimately were returned and melted down due to low demand.

When George Washington served as America's first President, he opposed a plan from Congress to put his likeness on U.S. currency during his presidency, viewing it as a contradiction to the war he fought for independence from a King.

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