The 2016 Democratic presidential nominee and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is amplifying a rendering of a proposed $250 banknote featuring a portrait of President Donald Trump with his signature and a 250th U.S. anniversary logo.
Clinton mocked Trump by writing: “By the end of Trump’s term, it’ll be just enough to buy one gallon of gas and a carton of eggs.”
[NOTE: Since Trump initiated military attacks in Iran in late February, resulting in a closure of the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. gasoline prices have soared by approximately 50%, rising from a pre-war average of roughly $2.94-$2.98 to over $4.50 per gallon by late May.]
By the end of Trump’s term, it’ll be just enough to buy one gallon of gas and a carton of eggs. pic.twitter.com/FRA3s7a6YS
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) May 28, 2026
Trump’s U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach and senior adviser Mike Brown presented the $250 banknote rendering to the director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Patricia “Patty” Solimene, who “resisted the effort,” according to The Washington Post.
Solimene said she was “reassigned” after telling Beach and Brown that there were “legal and procedural obstacles to producing the note,” and that it usually takes years to print a new bill. Brown has since been named the bureau’s acting director.
[NOTE: The last time a living person appeared on U.S. paper currency was in 1866. Spencer Clark, the first superintendent of the National Currency Bureau, a precursor to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, put himself on a five-cent note. He also put U.S. Treasurer Francis E. Spinner on the 50-cent note.]
Congress later responded by adding an amendment to an appropriations bill for the Treasury Department that codified (31 USC 5114) who could be put on American banknotes: “Hereafter no portrait or likeness of any living person shall be engraved or placed upon any of the bonds, securities, notes, or postal currency of the United States.”
Former Heritage Foundation fellow Joel Griffith, who’s now with Mike Pence‘s American Freedom organization, also responded to the Post report: “Despite 31 U.S. Code § 5114(b) clearly stating ‘only the portrait of a deceased individual may appear on United States currency,’ President Trump seeks to place his image on a new $250 bill. This isn’t mere vanity; it’s an illegal act.”
Despite 31 U.S. Code § 5114(b) clearly stating “only the portrait of a deceased individual may appear on United States currency,” President Trump seeks to place his image on a new $250 bill. This isn’t simply vanity; it’s illegal. https://t.co/2AxVirQK9w pic.twitter.com/P5Y8IHKd4P
— Joel Griffith (@joelgriffith) May 28, 2026
Conservative commentator Jay Nordlinger also commented on the effort, writing: “I must say, I wouldn’t have expected so many Americans to bow down to one person. To lend themselves to a mass political cult. I thought we were made of sterner, prouder stuff. The republican spirit (note the small “r”) is wanting.”