All that would be eliminated is the physical penny.

I did jump the gun in my assessment of what is going on. The penny is actually not being eliminated (yet). They're just wanting to stop making more of them. Which is the first step toward eliminating the penny, and it will be eliminated some day, and maybe we go entirely cashless.

My studied impression of Trump is that he doesn't do anything without it gaining him: a) more money, b) more fame, and/or c) more power. Not necessarily in that order (although they all can play off of each other). So far on this one I'm only seeing the more fame angle, although I suppose it also creates more power for him, or at least the impression of more power. I haven't seen any good conspiracy theories yet around why he wants to do this, so maybe it's legit. :-)