US President Donald Trump said Sunday that he had told the Treasury to stop producing penny coins, presenting the move as an effort to reduce government spending.
“For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let’s rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it’s a penny at a time,” he added.
This move comes soon after a statement issued by the Elon Musk-led Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) on January 22, which said that the penny costs over 3 cents to produce, costing US taxpayers over $179 million in FY2023. The US Mint produced more than 4.5 billion pennies in that fiscal year, making up around 40% of all coins minted for circulation.
Economics professor Robert Triest of Northeastern University wrote in January that Trump’s order would likely require lawmakers’ approval. Still, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent may be able to stop the minting of new pennies.
Triest said prices would likely be rounded to the nearest five cents if pennies were removed.
