Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) came down hard on Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s Wednesday announcement that the U.S. Mint is now producing a “new $1 gold coin” honoring President Donald Trump on the front.
“Congratulations, we’ve entered the end stages,” Massie wrote on X. “Eliminate the penny, plug the nickel, and make some commemorative gold coins nobody can afford.”
He added: “I feel sorry for the folks who will be sold worthless knockoffs of this by the usual grifters.”
Bessent shared an image of the coin:
Bessent’s use of the word “gold” refers to the color alone, as the Trump coin will contain no actual gold. The Hill reported that the coins will be made of non-precious metals.
Bessent said earlier this week that the coins will be available in the fall.
As Massie noted, the production of the coin with Trump’s face on it comes after Trump ordered the Treasury Department to cease production of the penny.
Each penny costs four cents to make.
Massie’s mention of the nickel likely refers to Bessent saying last year that the Treasury Department would look at ways to make nickels out of cheaper material.
Apart from the new $1 coin, Trump and those around him have made some serious bank off other coins, including “commemorative” coins with no cash value sold at eye-popping prices.
Last month, for example, the Trump Organization teamed up with UFC to sell gold commemorative coins for up to $12,000.
Andrew Leyden/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Trump family has made even more off crypto coins, with Trump himself earning hundreds of millions of dollars on a meme coin and $1.2 billion from crypto and crypto-linked ventures overall.
Others weren’t so lucky.
The New York Times reported earlier this month that nearly 1 million people who bought the Trump meme coin lost a combined $3.8 billion.
Massie, who has been a frequent critic of the president, drew his wrath for backing a law requiring the release of files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He is leaving Congress at the end of this term after losing his primary to a Trump-backed challenger.