Well, here we go again—President Trump makes a completely logical, fiscally responsible decision, and the left is already clutching their pearls. This time? The penny. Yes, the penny. The most useless, inflation-eroded scrap of metal still limping around in American pockets. And Trump, in classic Trump fashion, just cut through decades of bureaucratic dithering and told the Treasury Department: Enough already. Stop making them.
Naturally, this move has left the usual suspects scrambling. How dare Trump focus on something as frivolous as government waste? Shouldn’t he be spending more time throwing taxpayer money at “gender equity” programs in Nepal? But let’s be real—this is a textbook example of exactly why he was elected (twice). The man sees a problem; he sees an absurd waste of money, and he takes action. And as usual, the government’s own numbers make his case for him.
The U.S. Mint lost $85.3 million last year, producing nearly 3.2 billion pennies. Every single one of those pennies cost nearly 3.7 cents to make. Yes, you read that right—it costs nearly four times what it’s worth to produce it. And somehow, Congress never got around to fixing this because, well, they were too busy passing trillion-dollar spending bills that they didn’t even bother reading.
Trump, on the other hand, saw a ridiculous waste of money and did what any competent CEO would do: he cut it. No more pennies. And let’s be honest—who even wants pennies anymore? Cashiers hate them. They slow down transactions. Most of them end up lost in couch cushions or thrown into charity bins out of sheer inconvenience. Canada got rid of their penny over a decade ago, and somehow, their economy didn’t collapse. America will be just fine.
BREAKING: President Trump orders U.S. Treasury to stop producing new pennies pic.twitter.com/2OUTINfbm3
— ALX (@alx) February 10, 2025
But here’s where things get really interesting. The nickel? Even worse. Each nickel costs 14 cents to produce. So, naturally, expect the usual bureaucrats and pearl-clutching think tanks to start hyperventilating over that next. “Oh no, what will we do without our beloved five-cent piece?” Spoiler: we’ll survive. Just like we did when we eliminated the half-cent coin in 1857. Yes, America used to have a half-cent coin. It was scrapped when it no longer made economic sense, which—fun fact—is exactly what rational governments used to do before they became bloated, self-serving money pits.
Of course, the media is already hedging its bets, wondering whether Trump even has the authority to end penny production without congressional approval. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t. But let’s face it—if Congress had any intention of fixing this absurdity, they would have done it years ago. Instead, they kept introducing “proposals” that went nowhere while the government literally burned tens of millions of taxpayer dollars on useless coins that no one asked for.
And, let’s not forget, this isn’t some random pet project from Trump—this is part of a much bigger push to actually cut wasteful spending. Enter Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has been slashing through agencies like a chainsaw through wet cardboard. USAID? Gutted after its grotesque spending habits were exposed. Federal workforce? Shrinking fast as Musk trims the fat. The end goal? A whopping $2 trillion in savings. And, if Trump has his way, that’s just the beginning.
The penny costs over 3 cents to make and cost US taxpayers over $179 million in FY2023.
The Mint produced over 4.5 billion pennies in FY2023, around 40% of the 11.4 billion coins for circulation produced.
Penny (or 3 cents!) for your thoughts.
Sources:https://t.co/Y5LlrpyA62…
— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) January 22, 2025
But what’s truly hilarious is how this is being framed. The same people who hyperventilate about “ballooning deficits” whenever Republicans propose tax cuts are now pretending that wasteful spending is some kind of vital economic driver. Give me a break. The reality is simple: Trump is doing what no one in Washington ever has the guts to do—treating the government like an actual business. If a program, agency, or coin isn’t worth the money being spent on it, cut it.
And with that, Trump wrapped up his announcement and hopped on a plane after catching the first half of the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, D.C. bureaucrats and Politico interns are probably furiously typing up think pieces about how eliminating pennies is a “threat to democracy.”
Sorry, folks, but you’re out of luck. The adults are back in charge, and even the pennies aren’t safe from common sense anymore.
