While Americans are still waiting for abolitionist and social activist Harriet Tubman to be seen on the $20 bill, Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC) announced plans for a proposed bill that will place President Donald Trump’s portrait on a $250 dollar bill, The State reported.
The outspoken Trump supporter feels the idea would combat the influx of inflation, which he blames on former President Joe Biden. “Grateful to announce that I am drafting legislation to direct the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to design a $250 bill featuring Donald J. Trump,” he wrote on X, along with a mockup of what the bill could look like.
“Bidenflation has destroyed the economy, forcing American families to carry more cash. Most valuable bill for the most valuable President!”
As the bureau only prints $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 notes, Wilson’s plans may be shut down, since federal law bans any living person’s image from being shown on U.S. currency.
The topic, however, could reopen the conversation of Tubman being printed on the $20 bill, a proposal that was introduced in 2015 after Barbara Ortiz Howard launched a Women on 20s campaign, seeking a nationwide election for a new face on the currency.
Once the vote took place, Tubman beat out women’s rights greats such as Eleanor Roosevelt and Rosa Parks and even garnered the support of former President Barack Obama. “I am excited to announce that for the first time in more than a century, the front of our currency will feature the portrait of a woman — Harriet Tubman on the $20 note,” he wrote in a 2016 letter to then-U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew, according to The Washington Post.
Having Tubman on the bill, in addition to the abundance of white male U.S. leaders, would fix a problem of diversity as the greenbacks were named as an issue for millions of Americans struggling with vision loss, including blindness. In a 2008 opinion by a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Judge Judith W. Rogers agreed with the change. “A large majority of other currency systems have accommodated the visually impaired, and the secretary does not explain why U.S. currency should be any different,” Rogers wrote.
While Tubman’s appearance may take some time, as the Treasury Department is first legally required to investigate the issue of accessibility, placing Trump on forms of currency was already proven to be not such a great idea. When websites started selling “Trump Bucks” in 2023, they were taken down after an investigation found them to be a part of a scam with Republican supporters being the target.
Ads with AI-generated narration and false celebrity endorsements led to victims being scammed out of thousands of invested dollars as the companies claimed Trump-branded coins, checks, and cards would become valuable after he returned to office.
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