Trump Tells US Treasury Secretary to End Minting Pennies

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• President Donald Trump said he has instructed the US Treasury Secretary to stop minting new pennies, citing the coin’s cost of production.
• The U.S. president said in a Truth Social post that the cost to produce the penny—at more than 2 cents—was “so wasteful.”
• Many economists have called for the U.S. to stop manufacturing the penny, which for years has cost more to produce than it is worth.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday night that he has instructed the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury to stop minting new pennies, citing their production cost.

“For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform. “I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies.”

The Treasury Department didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

Many economists have called for the U.S. to stop manufacturing the penny, which for years has cost more to produce than it is worth. Trump’s cost-cutting task force, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has estimated that the Mint loses at least $100 million annually on pennies. That implies a production cost of 3.7 cents each, according to the Mint’s annual report.

The long-debated question of whether penny-production should stop comes as DOGE, which is led by Tesla (TSLA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elon Musk, was restricted temporarily from accessing the Treasury Department’s payment system last week, according to The Wall Street Journal.