1. United States
2. Maine
3. Letter

As your constituent, I am writing to oppose production of the new one-dollar coin bearing President Donald Trump’s portrait. America’s 250th anniversary should honor the republic and its people, not place a sitting president at the center of the nation’s money. THE DESIGN TESTS THE LIMITS OF THE LAW Congress authorized special 2026 coins through the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020. The law permits designs emblematic of the Semiquincentennial, but bars a portrait of any living person on the reverse. Treasury placed President Trump on the obverse and argues that the design is lawful. That may rely on a literal distinction between the coin’s two sides while frustrating the law’s purpose. It also conflicts with the longstanding American presumption against placing living officeholders on currency. Senator Richard Blumenthal said Trump “has no right to put his image on the US currency just by fiat.” AMERICAN MONEY SHOULD NOT LOOK MONARCHICAL Kings and emperors placed their own faces on money to identify the state with the ruler. The United States chose differently. Our coins generally honor deceased leaders, national ideals, achievements and symbols. President Calvin Coolidge appeared on a 1926 anniversary half-dollar while in office, and a few other living Americans have appeared on commemorative coins. Those rare exceptions do not justify depicting a sitting president on anniversary coinage. The issue is not merely whether Treasury found a loophole. It is whether a republic should let a sitting president become the centerpiece of a coin. PUBLIC REVIEW CANNOT BE OPTIONAL The 2020 law calls for review by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee before the Treasury Secretary selects designs. The committee did not review this Trump dollar. Committee member Donald Scarinci said he believed, “If they make this coin, it is illegal and Congress should act to stop it.” The Commission of Fine Arts recommended candidate designs in January after President Trump replaced its previous members with his appointees. A commission composed entirely of a president’s appointees should not substitute for the independent advisory review contemplated by Congress. THE ANNIVERSARY BELONGS TO ALL AMERICANS The Semiquincentennial should commemorate independence, constitutional government, abolition, suffrage, civil rights, public service, and sacrifice. A presidential portrait divides what should be a unifying observance and creates a precedent future presidents of either party could exploit. (1) HALT PRODUCTION. Support legislation or an appropriations restriction preventing production and sale of the Trump dollar. (2) REQUIRE REVIEW. Require full public review by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee before any Semiquincentennial coin is issued. (3) BAN SELF-HONORS. Establish a uniform prohibition, applying to every president regardless of party, against depicting any living president on United States coins or paper currency. Thank you.