President Donald Trump announced Friday he would bring back plastic drinking straws, previewing an executive order that would help end government bans on the simple single-use utensil.
‘I will be signing an Executive Order next week ending the ridiculous Biden push for Paper Straws, which don’t work,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday morning. ‘BACK TO PLASTIC!’
Trump has long been a critic of efforts to ban plastic straws, complaining that the paper replacements are terrible.
‘Has anyone tried those paper straws? They’re not working too good,’ Trump said on the campaign trail 2020, complaining that the paper straw ‘disintegrated’ before you could finish your drink.
He also expressed amazement that paper straws were sometimes wrapped in plastic.
‘The paper straws come wrapped in cellophane, do you ever see this? I mean, what’s going on?’ he asked in January 2024. ‘You got paper straws, they’re wrapped in cellophane. This country’s gone wild.’
Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign even began selling their own reusable specially branded ‘Trump’ straws to take advantage of the controversy.
‘STAND WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP and buy your pack of recyclable straws today,” the promotional message read marketing the straws that cost $15.
Environmentally conscious Democrats have moved against single-use plastic items like straws in the hopes of reducing plastic waste.
Some restaurants and food service locations have voluntarily replaced plastic straws with paper straws or eliminating the use of straws entirely.
Several states have enacted bans of plastic straws including California, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris famously endorsed the idea of banning plastic straws during her first failed presidential primary campaign.
‘I think we should,’ she said during a CNN town hall, where she was asked about plastic straw bans. ‘We do need to ban the plastic.’
