US President Donald Trump has ordered the Treasury Department to stop minting new pennies, citing the high cost of production. In a post on Truth Social, Trump stated, “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.”
The decision aligns with Trump’s broader cost-cutting agenda in his second term, which has already led to agency shutdowns and workforce reductions. “Let’s rip the waste out of our great nation’s budget, even if it’s a penny at a time,” he added.
Trump made this announcement shortly after attending the first half of the Super Bowl championship in New Orleans. During his flight, he also hinted at financial irregularities discovered by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) while auditing Treasury Department records.
“There could be a problem—you’ve been reading about that—with Treasuries,” Trump told reporters, though he did not clarify whether he was referring to national debt or payment discrepancies within the department. He even suggested that these irregularities could mean the US has “less debt than we thought.”
The move to halt penny production has sparked debate, with some praising the cost-cutting measure and others questioning its long-term economic impact.
