WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A federal arts panel comprised of members appointed by Donald Trump on Thursday unanimously approved a commemorative gold coin featuring his image, the latest effort by the administration to celebrate the president.
Critics, including Democrats and members of another federal arts committee, said minting a coin with a sitting president’s image went against American values, especially as the nation celebrates its 250th birthday this year and the end of British monarchical rule.
During a presentation by a US Mint official to the Commission of Fine Arts, discussion turned to what diameter the 24-carat coin should be, up to a maximum of three inches.
Chamberlain Harris, 26, a White House aide who Trump appointed to the commission this year, said the biggest possible coin would be Trump’s preference.
“The larger the better,” she said, shortly before the coin was approved by the entire panel.
The US Mint will now produce final dimensions for the coin. Trump has already approved the design and it is expected that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a Trump loyalist, will order the coin to be minted.
The White House referred questions to the Treasury Department. The Treasury Department and the US Mint did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The coin would depict a stern-looking Trump leaning over a desk and staring forward. It is based on a photograph displayed in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington.
“Monarchs and dictators put their faces on coins, not leaders of a democracy,” Jeff Merkley, a Democratic US senator, told Reuters in a statement.
“Trump’s administration moving to put his face on a commemorative coin is his latest effort to distort the meaning of America’s 250th birthday.”
The Trump administration has also proposed a different, $1 coin featuring Trump’s image that would mark America’s 1776 Declaration of Independence from British rule.
