Former US President Donald Trump has opposed paper straws, a policy supported by his successor, Joe Biden, and vowed to roll back the initiative if re-elected.
Taking to Truth Social on Friday, Trump announced his plans to sign an executive order bringing back plastic straws. “I will be signing an Executive Order next week ending the ridiculous Biden push for Paper Straws, which don’t work. BACK TO PLASTIC!” he wrote.
Single-use plastic utensils, including drinking straws, were to be phased out by 2035 across government departments as part of broader environmental reforms set by the Biden administration. Trump’s opposition to such measures aligns with his history of rolling back climate policies, including his withdrawal from the Paris Agreement early in his second term and his push for expanded oil drilling.
Trump had already vented over paper straws, and more so when running against Biden in 2020. In one rally, he attacked the product for being brittle, stating, “They want to ban straws. Has anyone tried those paper straws? They’re not working too good.” He also jokingly said, “If you have a nice tie like this tie, you’ve got no choice.
Further cementing this stance, his campaign staff also has hawked branded plastic straws with an attached label to read “Liberal paper straws don’t work.”
With the regulations over environmental laws continuing to stay in the firing line of this political brawling, here’s a bet that this may be a commitment to reversal Biden sustainability policies under traditional materials’ umbrellas.
