The RDR2 Dollar Bills

At 2:07 in Trailer 2, thrown $10 bills carry Thaddeus Waxman and Franklin Hardin, fictional presidents from RDR2, fueling the shared-universe fan theory.

Location
Trailer 2, ~2:07 mark
Detail
$10 bills with Waxman and Hardin portraits
Origin
Fictional presidents from RDR2
Spotted by
Fan frame analysis
Status
Confirmed on screen; theory beyond

The single most discussed GTA 6 easter egg sits at roughly the 2:07 mark of Trailer 2, released May 6, 2025. An NPC throws $10 bills into the air, and the portraits on them are not real US presidents: fans identified Thaddeus Waxman and Franklin Hardin, two fictional presidents from Red Dead Redemption 2, as reported by GamesRadar+, ComicBook, Dexerto, Game Rant and RockstarINTEL.

Why Waxman is the bigger find

In RDR2, set in 1899, Waxman was the sitting fictional president. GTA 6 putting him on modern Leonida currency implies the two series share a presidential history, which is exactly why the frame set easter-egg hunters alight. Hardin, the second name, reinforces that the bill design is deliberate world-building rather than a one-off texture accident.

Confirmed footage, fan-theory canon

The line to hold: the bills are confirmed on screen in official footage, documented frame by frame alongside the Dukes-font weapon marking that surfaced days later. What is not confirmed is the conclusion many fans draw, that these references prove a shared canon universe linking Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption. Rockstar has never declared a single canon, and a cross-game wink can be a deliberate nod without merging timelines. File the find as real and the reading as theory, alongside the rest of the easter egg catalogue and Trailer 2's other hidden details.

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