On Sunday, US President Donald Trump said he had told the Treasury to stop producing penny coins, presenting it as an effort to cut down on government spending.
This move amid a sort of rapid-fire effort by his new administration to enact various drastic changes, including in issues like immigration, gender and diversity. The US president wrote on social media that, “For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful. I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let’s rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it’s a penny at a time.”
Trump had not revealed his plans or expressed his desire to eliminate the penny while on his campaign. However, last month, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency did raise the prospect in an X post last month. “The penny costs over 3 cents to make and cost US taxpayers over $179 million in FY2023.”
He further added, “The Mint produced over 4.5 billion pennies in FY2023, around 40% of the 11.4 billion coins for circulation produced. Penny (or 3 cents!) for your thoughts.”
It remains unclear whether Trump has the power to unilaterally eliminate the lowly one-cent coin as Congress dictates currency specifications, including the size and metal content of coins.
