President Donald Trump has ordered the U.S. to stop minting pennies. His surprise announcement comes after decades of unsuccessful efforts to phase out the 1-cent coin.

“For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents,” Trump posted on his social media site Truth Social. “This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let’s rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it’s a penny at a time.”

KEY TAKEAWAYS President Donald Trump said he has instructed the US Treasury Secretary to stop minting new pennies, citing the coin's cost of production.The U.S. president said in a Truth Social post that the cost to produce the penny—at more than 2 cents—was "so wasteful.