Scott Bessent on Thursday endorsed the idea of creating a $250 bill bearing President Trump’s image, saying he saw nothing wrong with honoring the country’s 250th birthday that way. The Treasury secretary said the department had been preparing a mockup of the bill, but added that it cannot happen unless Congress passes legislation allowing the face of a living person on U.S. currency.
Bessent made the comments while hosting the White House press briefing, where he signaled that Treasury needs to be ready if lawmakers decide to move ahead. He also said he did not see any problem with putting Trump on the currency for the nation’s semiquincentennial, a remark that turned a technical question about money design into an open political test of what Congress will tolerate.
The timing gave the proposal extra weight. April inflation data showed the Personal Consumption Expenditures index rising 3.8 percent from a year earlier, with the core measure up 3.3 percent and overall prices climbing 0.4 percent on the month. Prices excluding food and energy rose 0.2 percent. The briefing came as price pressure hit a three-year high and the administration faced fresh scrutiny over the economy, while the Federal Reserve weighed whether it may have to raise interest rates if inflation does not cool.
Bessent also tried to project confidence that inflation could ease once the Iran war is resolved, predicting that oil and gas prices could “come down very quickly” and saying “the oil market is going to be very well supplied on the other side of this.” He would not say whether a deal to end the war was nearing completion, and he would not discuss whether any agreement would include sanctions relief for Iran.
On another front, Bessent said he had his first breakfast with Kevin Warsh, the new chair of the Federal Reserve, and said he was confident Warsh would balance inflation and growth at the central bank. Asked about a 100 percent tax idea tied to Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, Bessent took a swipe at the governor and said, “There’s no cure for stupid.”
The exchange underscored how far the Treasury secretary’s role now stretches beyond budgets and bonds. He was talking about a mock currency design, an overseas war, the Fed and state politics in a single briefing, all while Treasury’s internal planning remained contingent on Congress. The question is no longer whether the Trump $250 bill has been discussed. It has. The real question is whether lawmakers will turn a political novelty into U.S. law.
