The King’s coin
A proposed US Mint $1 coin featuring Donald Trump’s image to mark America’s 250th anniversary has sparked backlash, with many condemning it as authoritarian and a violation of constitutional warnings against personality cults. | Today’s Political Cartoon.
The United States Mint has recently sparked controversy over a proposed $1 coin featuring Donald Trump’s image, issued in honour of the United States’ 250th anniversary in 2026, despite laws prohibiting the depiction of living presidents on currency.
The design, which shows Trump’s profile alongside the slogan “FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT”, has drawn criticism as a symbol of creeping authoritarianism and personality cult politics.
Critics noted the irony that George Washington and the framers of the US Constitution had warned against monarchy, arguing that the proposed “Trump coin” perfectly embodied the very dangers America’s founders sought to prevent.
GOING FURTHER
$1 Trump coin draft is ‘real,’ US Treasurer says | CNN
Treasury Department considers minting a $1 Trump coin | POLITICO
Trump’s ‘fight, fight, fight’ pose captured in US treasury’s $1 coin design | THE TELEGRAPH
What the Founding Fathers Said About Kings | TIME
Nation's founders pushed against 'elected king' when framing presidential powers: Historians | ABC NEWS
Sources:
▪ This piece was first published in Europeans TODAY.
