Donald Trump Signs Executive Order Ending ‘Forced Use’ of Paper Straws

On Feb. 10. 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order ending what the White House alleges is the “forced use” of paper straws.

A fact sheet from the White House explains Trump’s stance on the matter: “The Federal government is directed to stop purchasing paper straws and ensure they are no longer provided within federal buildings. The order requires the development of a national strategy to end the use of paper straws within 45 days to alleviate the forced use of paper straws nationwide.”

“The irrational campaign against plastic straws has forced Americans to use nonfunctional paper straws,” the sheet continues. “This ends under President Trump.”

The White House claims that paper straws use chemicals that carry risks to human health and that they are more expensive than plastic straws, forcing people to use multiple straws. Finally, it states the plastic that packages paper straws is “undermining the environmental argument for their use.”

Donald Trump Called Paper Straws ‘Ridiculous’

“It’s a ridiculous situation. We’re going back to plastic straws,” Trump said as he signed the executive order to reverse the previous administration’s federal policies, which encouraged paper straws and restricted plastic ones. Joe Biden planned to phase out federal purchases of single-use plastics, including straws, from food service operations, events, and packaging by 2027 and from all federal operations by 2035.

According to the BBC, Trump added, “These things don’t work, I’ve had them many times, and on occasion, they 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.’’

However, this order has its critics. The Associated Press quoted Christy Leavitt, plastics campaign director for the environmental group Oceana, who is against the president’s policy reversal.

“President Trump is moving in the wrong direction on single-use plastics,’’ Leavitt said. “The world is facing a plastic pollution crisis, and we can no longer ignore one of the biggest environmental threats facing our oceans and our planet today.”

During his campaign to be re-elected president in 2020, the president sold “Trump” branded plastic straws for $15 for a pack of 10.