President Trump said Sunday that he had asked the U.S. Treasury Department to stop minting new pennies, part of an effort to cut down on what he called wasteful government spending. His remarks revived a long-running debate over whether to get rid of the smallest denomination of U.

The president could promptly end the production of new pennies, but phasing out the coin would take time and mean changes at retail stores, economists said.

For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful! Trump wrote on Truth Social.