Here's the $250 bank note with Trump's mugshot on it

Introducing a forthcoming hypothetical $250 bill featuring President Trump's mugshot, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent seemed unable to suppress a faint air of amused dégoût — though it might be argued this is simply his customary manner of addressing other human beings.

When asked about a possible new bill during a White House briefing on Thursday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said "it's all in the hands" of Congress and that, while his department was preparing in case the legislation passes, the Treasury would follow the law.

Two laws need to be revised to allow it: the one forbidding living persons on bank notes (Trump remains alive), and the one that specifies legal denominations ($250 isn't on the list). Trump also wants his own signature printed on new bills instead of that of the secretary, but that doesn't require legislators to act.

The 1866 Thayer Amendment to Title 31 bans banknotes with live meat on them; a congressional Democrat has proposed a law to extend the ban to the signature too.

The $100 bill, featuring Benjamin Franklin, is the largest denomination still printed, though there have been larger ones in the past, including a $100,000 bill for use exclusively by Federal Reserve Banks after the U.S. left the gold standard.

"If this White House put even half as much energy into working to lower costs as it does into stoking the president's ego, American families wouldn't need that new $250 bill just to fill up their gas tanks," said US Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat on the Senate's banking committee.

Previously:
• Donald Trump's new crypto token launches
• Senators to scrutinize the Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Ballroom
• WSJ publishes Trump's birthday note to Epstein: they share 'a wonderful secret'