Trump wants to print his head image on a new $250 version
The Observer Network Shanghai.
U.S. President Trump, who is "eyeing" the Nobel Peace Prize, turned his target to the U.S. currency this time.
In the early morning of October 9th, local time, US President Trump forwarded a column written by Andy Barr, a Republican and member of the US House of Representatives, on the social platform "Real Social". The article is titled "Why I'm taking the lead in promoting legislation to print Trump's head on a new $250 bill" and published in the American media "Washington Reporter".
Trump forwarded articles on social platform "Real Social"
In this article, Andy Barr appealed "emotionally": "Next year, the United States will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the Republic. This historic milestone not only gives us the opportunity to review the courage of our founding sages, but also prompts us to commend those leaders who revived the" American dream "in our contemporary era.
In the article, Andy Barr praised a series of so-called "achievements" of Trump's second term, saying that they "revolutionized American politics, brought the largest tax cuts to working families in U.S. history, and are cleaning up the U.S. border The worst chaos in history." Later, he declared that issuing a $250 note with Trump's face was "an appropriate way to honor the most historic president of our time."
The article concluded,"Let's pay tribute to the president who made America great again. A $250 bill with Trump's face on it is not only an appropriate tribute, but also a powerful reminder that America's brightest days are still ahead."
Concept picture of the $250 bill with Trump's face printed on it generated by AI. The picture is transferred from foreign media
In this regard, the American media Beast Daily sarcastically said that Trump "often fantasized about engraving himself into the national myth of the United States" and tried to appear in the national currency alongside the founding fathers of the United States.
According to the media, the move is another example of Republicans trying to “sweet” Trump in various ways. Republicans have previously proposed a series of so-called “hommage to Trump” proposals, including naming Washington Dulles International Airport by Trump, printing Trump’s head on a $100 note, and even carving it on Mount Rushmore in South Dakota (also known as “President’s Mountain”), but these proposals have not been implemented.
Recently, the U.S. Treasury Department proposed to mint a commemorative coin with a face value of $1 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States in 2026. Judging from the draft design of the commemorative coin, the image of Trump is printed on both sides of this commemorative coin. Brandon Beach, an official of the US Treasury Department, has publicly confirmed the authenticity of the relevant design sketches.
However, the analysis pointed out that the plan has long been untenable from the legal level. According to a law passed in 2020, although the U.S. Treasury Department can mint a $1 commemorative coin in 2026 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, it clearly requires that the coin face "should be designed to reflect the symbolic significance of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States." More importantly, the current law in the United States stipulates that it is forbidden to engrave the portrait of the living president on the currency in circulation, and only the portrait of the late president can be printed on the currency.
The Beast Daily, on the other hand, that the reason that prompted Trump himself to redirect this incredibly talented article may have been that “no president is more eligible for the Nobel Peace Prize than Trump.”
At around 5 pm Beijing time on October 10, the Norway Nobel Committee will announce the winners of this year's Peace Prize. Previously, foreign media had revealed that Trump had been lobbying hard to win this award.
Bloomberg reported on October 4th, local time, that the US special envoy for the Middle East, Witkoff, urged the Norwegian Nobel Committee to award the Peace Prize to Trump in August this year. Trump claimed that if the committee didn't do so, it would be "a great insult to the United States". In addition, Witkov and US Secretary of State rubio secretly lobbied European leaders to support Trump's award, and Trump himself called Norwegian Finance Minister and former NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg to discuss the Nobel Prize.
In August this year, the White House claimed that leaders or institutions of many countries, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Israel, Cambodia, Gabon, Rwanda and Pakistan, had nominated or supported Trump to compete for the Nobel Peace Prize. However, the Associated Press quoted analysts as saying that the Nobel Peace Prize Committee gives priority to sustained multilateral efforts over quick diplomatic victories.
Nina Graeger, director of the Oslo Peace Research Institute (PRIO), a Norwegian think tank, believes that Trump's actions are contrary to the spirit of Nobel, including withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement, imposing tariffs on allies and launching trade wars, which are difficult to be regarded as "promoting international friendship".
She said Trump's hopes for this year's award were "blurred" and "his remarks did not point to the prospect of peace", adding that Trump himself explicitly stated that he could get the award, but that could also be unfavorable to him because the Norwegian Nobel Committee did not want to be seen as "submitting to political pressure."