President Donald Trump made headlines on February 9, 2025, when he showed up at the Superbowl. However, that wasn’t the only reason Trump made headlines.
Trump posted on his social mediaplatform,TruthSocial, that he directed the Treasury Department to cease minting new pennies. The president cited the cost of producing the one-cent coin as the reason for the order.
“For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!” Trump wrote. “I haveinstructedmySecretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies.”
This is Trump’s latest move in a rapid-fire effort by his new administration to ratify a sweeping change through executive order and proclamationonmanyissues. Theissuesrangefromgender and diversity, immigration and even renaming the Gulf of Mexico.
Trump wasn’t the first one to discuss eliminating the penny. It was Elon Musk who started the idea in a post on his own social media platform, X, shining a light on the rising cost of producing the penny.
The US Mint reportedly lost $85.3 million in the 2024 fiscal year on approximately 3.2 billion pennies that it produced. Each penny costs almost 37 cents to produce, up from 31 cents from the prior year.
The nickel is also a losing battle, since it costs 14 cents to make one five cent coin. However, the nickel doesn’t seem to be on the chopping block.
Nobody really knows if Trump has the power to eliminate the lowly penny. Congress dictates currency specifications, including the size and metal content.
An economics professor at Northwestern University argues that there might be a little “wiggle room.”
“The process of discontinuing the penny in the U.S. is a little unclear,” Professor Robert K. Triest said last month. “It would likely require an act of Congress, but the Secretary of the Treasury might be able to simply stop the minting of new pennies.”
The penny has been the subject of disdain for many years. Congress members have repeatedly introduced legislation over the years to either temporarily suspend thepenny’sproduction,eliminate it from circulation or require that prices get rounded to the nearest five cents.
Manyarguethateliminating thecoinwouldhavemany benefits. They cited speedier checkouts at cast registers and cost savings. They also mentioned that many countries have already eliminated their one-cent coins. Canada ceased production on their version of the penny in 2012.
This wouldn’t be the first time that the US stopped coin production. Congress discontinued the half-cent coin in 1857.
Trump cited trying to save money from budget cuts as the main reason for getting rid of the penny.
“Let’s rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it’s a penny at a time,” TrumpwroteonTruthSocial.