Trump says he ordered the US Treasury to stop entering new money

By Jill Colvin, Associated Press

Washington (AP) – President Donald Trump says that he ordered the Treasury department to stop entering new cents, citing the increase in the cost of producing the room to one penny.

“For too long, the United States has had sub-frappes that have literally cost us more than 2 hundred. It’s so useless! Trump wrote in an article Sunday evening on his social site Truth. “I asked my American Treasury Secretary to stop producing new money.”

Trump’s decision is the last of what was a quick effort of his new administration to adopt a radical change by executive order and proclamation on questions ranging from immigration, gender and diversity, in name from the Gulf of Mexico.

Trump had not discussed his desire to eliminate the penny during his campaign. But the so-called ministry of efficiency of the Elon Musk government increased the perspective in an article on X last month highlighting the cost of sou.

The American Mint said that she had lost $ 85.3 million in the year 2024, which ended in September on nearly 3.2 billion cents he produced. Each cent cost almost $ 0.037, compared to $ 0.031 the previous year.

Mint also loses money on nickel, each of the $ 0.05 parts costing almost $ 0.14 to be won.

It is not known if Trump has the power to unilaterally eliminate the ugly medal to a penny. Currency specifications – including the size and metal content of the parts – are dictated by the congress.

But Robert K. Trest, professor of economics at the Northeastern University, argued that there could be room for maneuver.

“The process of stopping Sou in the United States is not a bit clear. It would probably take an act of the congress, but the secretary of the treasury could simply stop the shot of new money, “he said last month.

The members of the Congress have repeatedly introduced legislation targeting the zinc part with a copper veneer. Over the years, the proposals have tried to temporarily suspend the production of the penny, to eliminate it from traffic or to require that prices be rounded to the closest five hundred, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Supporters of the elimination of the medal have cited cost savings, faster checks in the cash registers and the fact that a certain number of countries have already eliminated their parts to a hundred. Canada, for example, ceased to say its penny in 2012.

It would not be the first time that the United States has eliminated its least precious room. The half-center play was interrupted by the Congress in 1857.

The new Trump administration has focused heavily on cost reduction, with Musk, which was led to direct the task, targeting entire agencies and large expanses of the federal workforce while trying to try ‘Identify an target of $ 2,000 billion in savings.

“Let us grow the waste of our budget of the great nations, even if it is a penny at a time,” wrote Trump in his article.

Trump sent the message when he left New Orleans after watching the first half of the Super Bowl.

The correspondent for the White House AP, Zeke Miller, contributed to this report.

Originally published: February 10, 2025 at 6:19 am PST