Trump-appointed panel approves U.S. gold coin with image of President Trump

The decision to place the current president on a U.S. coin ahead of the country’s 250th anniversary goes against norms intended to promote democratic values.

A Trump-appointed panel has approved a new commemorative gold coin that will display an image of President Donald Trump, marking a departure from a years-long tradition of not featuring living U.S. presidents on U.S. currency.

The new 24-karat gold coin will commemorate the United States of America’s upcoming 250th anniversary this July. The image on the coin–depicting the 79-year-old standing with his fists on the resolute desk–features an image of Trump that appears to adapt a portrait of the 47th president that is currently on display at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.

According to the Washington Post, such gold coins from the U.S. Mint typically sell for several thousand dollars. The outlet reports an official from the U.S. Mint said President Trump had personally approved the design.

The decision came from members of the Commission of Fine Arts, all of whom have been hand-picked by Trump–including one member who is a 26-year-old executive assistant whose only qualification was working on Trump’s portrait project. Last year, the president gutted the commission responsible for overseeing public buildings, memorials and medals and coins, and subsequently installed a group of loyalists to the panel.

The Fine Arts commission’s vice chair, James McCrery, urged that the Trump coin be a “large as possible,” according to CNN. Commissioner Chamberlain Harris said the image of Trump is “very strong” and “very tough” and said it was “fitting to have a current sitting president who’s presiding over the country over the 250th year on a commemorative coin for said year.”

While the U.S. coin is sure to thrill President Trump and is being praised by his supporters, the decision to place the current president on a U.S. coin, commemorative or not, goes against norms. Typically, the government has intentionally avoided elevating a current president in such a way out of concern of contradicting the country’s democratic norms and a perception of embracing monarchy, which is what the U.S. was explicitly against when it was founded.

The Washington Post reports that a second panel that is supposed to approve the Trump coin, the bipartisan Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, refused last month to consider the proposal. If the administration seeks to mint the coin without the panel’s approval, it will likely face legal challenges.

Only one past president, Calvin Coolidge, has been featured on a U.S. coin during his lifetime. A portrait of America’s 30th president appeared on a commemorative coin marking the country’s sesquicentennial in 1926, sparking controversy.

Since returning to office for his second term, President Trump has sought to slap his name, image and likeness across the federal government. Most notably, the Kennedy Center and U.S. Institute of Peace have been renamed to include Trump’s name–which is visibly displayed on the buildings. Banners of Trump’s image are also hanging from federal buildings, including the Justice Department headquarters and the Labor Department.

Trump also controversially demolished the East Wing of the White House, which was first erected in 1902 and expanded in 1942, to build a $400 million ballroom. The president also placed cement over the turf on the White House Rose Garden, created in 1913, and decked the Oval Office and other areas of the White House in gold.

President Trump is also pushing to have a 250-foot arch built in Washington, D.C., to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States. Supporters of the president would like it monument to be named the “Arch de Trump.”