Donald Trump sides with plastic over paper in the straw wars
President Donald Trump's waded into the contentious debate over paper versus plastic straws with an executive order Monday favoring the plastic variety.
The president ordered federal agency and department heads to stop buying paper straws and make sure they aren't offered in their buildings. Agencies also must work to eliminate policies that "disfavor plastic straws" and Trump is tasking the head of his Domestic Policy Council with creating a "national strategy to end the use of paper straws."
Trump complained Monday to reporters in the Oval Office that paper straws "break, they explode. If something's hot, they don't last very long, like a matter of minutes, sometimes a matter of seconds, it's a ridiculous situation."
"So we're going back to plastic straws," the president added.
Under former President Joe Biden, the Department of Interior in 2022 ordered a phase-out by 2032 of all single-use plastic products ‒ such as plastic straws, food and beverage containers and bottles ‒ on all federal lands including national parks.
The Interior Department was complying with an executive order from Biden that called for federal departments and agencies to minimize waste and support recycled products. Trump rescinded Biden's order on his first day of office last month.
Municipalities also have enacted regulations on single use plastics that have restricted the use of plastic straws.
While widely regarded as better for the environment, paper straws tend to quickly dissolve and can be unpopular with consumers. Trump and other Republicans have long made paper straws a go-to attack in their fight against Democrat-backed environmental regulations.
Trump played down any environmental concerns Monday.
"I don't think that plastic is going to affect a shark very much as they're eating as they're munching their way through the ocean," he said.
During his 2020 reelection bid, the Trump campaign sold Trump-branded plastic straws because "liberal paper straws don’t work,” the campaign's online store said at the time.
(This story has been updated with more information.)