Donald Trump wastes no time identifying his next enemy: the American penny

Since becoming President, Donald Trump has gone after everything from the trans community to USAID, and now he’s taking aim at… the penny? I’d say I’m surprised by this development, but so many shocking things have happened since Trump forgot to place his hand on that Bible that an attack on a coin somehow feels like his least controversial presidential maneuver.

Anyway, the president announced on Sunday that he had instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to halt the production of pennies, citing the high cost of producing the coin. Elaborating on the move, Trump wrote on Truth Social that minted pennies “cost us more than 2 cents” to produce, and described that process as “so wasteful.”

“Let’s rip the waste out of our great nation’s budget, even if it’s a penny at a time,” he added. For what it’s worth, the penny has been the subject of political debate for years, with many experts arguing for it to be abolished. That Trump was the one to formalize this process would be a feather in his (MAGA) cap, were it not for all the other horribleness that has come from his second term. Adding to this horribleness is the king of horribleness himself, Elon Musk, who also took aim at the penny on social media last month. 

The Department of Government Efficiency, co-led by the billionaire, called attention to the high cost of producing pennies on X, laying the groundwork for one of multiple political maneuvers Musk would go on to make. Despite Trump’s announcement, the Treasury Department — which oversees the mint — has not publicly confirmed plans to halt the production of the penny. It’s also unclear whether Trump has the authority to stop producing pennies, since it is Congress who oversees the manufacture of coin currency. 

If it came to fruition, Trump’s move would make the US one of multiple countries to halt the production of one-denomination cents, with Canada, Ireland and the Netherlands phasing out their equivalents of the penny in recent years. While we don’t know yet if he has the authority to phase out the penny, Trump has played hard and loose with authority in recent weeks with the assistance of Musk. The Treasury has been one object of the pair’s machinations, and we learned this month that Musk had been granted access to the systems of the department responsible for disbursing trillions of dollars in government payments. 

Elsewhere, the billionaire has extended his political reach within the Department of Labor and the Department of Education, as well as working to shut down foreign aid agency, USAID. Musk’s recent moves have been met with swift rebuke, in the form of protests, condemnations from politicians, and expert warnings that he has broken the law. More broadly, Trump’s second term has been defined by eyebrow-raising international moves — like plans to annex Greenland and rename the Gulf of Mexico — and his voluminous executive orders. 

Over the weekend, Trump attended the Super Bowl game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs, which saw him being vaguely called out by halftime show performer Kendrick Lamar. By 2028, we may be left with no more government departments and a co-president in Musk, but at least our wallets will no longer be weighed down by those pesky pennies. Oh, we’ll also have no paper straws.