Latest Update: President Donald Trump instructs Treasury to halt production of costly penny….Read More

Donald Trump made the announcement on his platform Truth Social, which was soon acknowledged by Elon Musk.

President Donald Trump has told the Treasury Department to stop minting new pennies due to the rising cost of producing the one-cent coin.

The President announced the move via his Truth Social site, saying, “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.”

Elon Musk also shared the post on X, quoting the announcement with two fire emojis

This is Trump’s latest move as he seeks to enforce massive sweeping changes through executive orders and proclamations on several issues.

While Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency mentioned the penny’s cost in a post on X last month, Trump had not previously mentioned the issue during his campaign to become President of the United States.

The debate around the cost of pennies has nonetheless been a long-running one in the US.

The U.S. Mint said it lost $85.3 million in the 2024 fiscal year that ended in September on the nearly 3.2 billion pennies it produced. Making and distributing a one-cent coin costs 3.69 cents, according to the U.S. Mint’s annual report.

Previous US government officials and members of Congress have proposed discontinuing the penny but have not had any success. Those who support the penny say the coin keeps prices lower while boosting charity fundraising.

Whether Trump has the power to completely stop the minting of the pennies is unclear, and experts have said he would likely require an act of Congress.

This isn’t the first time the US has stopped minting its least valuable coin. In 1857, Congress discontinued the half-cent coin.

According to Britannica.com, the U.S. penny was one of the first coins produced by the Mint after it was founded in 1792. The coin also has roots in ancient history as it was originally based on the Roman denarius, introduced as far back as 211 BC.