Trump Tells US Treasury to Stop Minting New Pennies
US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that he has instructed the Treasury Department to halt the production of penny coins, framing it as a move to reduce government spending. He highlighted the inefficiency of continuing to mint pennies, which cost more to produce than their actual value. Trump expressed his frustration over the waste, writing on his Truth Social platform, “For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!”
The decision was backed by the Department of Government Efficiency, a cost-cutting initiative led by billionaire Elon Musk, which has been focused on reducing federal expenditures. The department had previously pointed out the high cost of producing pennies in a post on X (formerly Twitter) earlier in January.
While the idea of eliminating pennies due to their production cost has been discussed in the US for years, it has not yet been implemented, despite several bills being introduced in Congress. Trump’s order would likely need congressional approval, but according to economics professor Robert Triest from Northeastern University, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent may be able to suspend the minting of new pennies without the need for legislation. If pennies were removed, prices could be rounded to the nearest five cents.
Canada made a similar move in 2012, citing the production cost of 1.6 cents per penny and inflation-driven depreciation in its purchasing power.
Trump has emphasized cutting the federal budget as a key goal of his administration, with Musk’s DOGE team actively investigating ways to reduce government spending.
