President Trump has reached his final — paper — straw.
In a social media post shared on his platform, Truth Social, Trump on Friday declared his intentions to rollback former President Biden’s efforts to phase out plastic straw use across the federal government.
“I will be signing an Executive Order next week ending the ridiculous Biden push for Paper Straws, which don’t work,” the president wrote. “BACK TO PLASTIC!”
Under Biden in 2022, the Department of the Interior announced its plans to do away with all single-use plastic products on department-managed lands by 2032, including plastic food and beverage containers, bottles, straws, cups, cutlery and plastic bags.
The agency had been complying with an executive order, called “Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability,” aimed at minimizing waste in support of recycled products at the time.
Trump rescinded that order during his first day back in the White House.
Last July, the Biden administration also revealed its “new goal to phase out federal procurement of single-use plastics from food service operations, events and packaging by 2027.
While paper straws are widely considered better for the environment, consumers have taken issue with the fact that they tend to disintegrate, making them more difficult to use.
It’s not clear whether Trump intends to call for a wider rollback of the Biden-era initiative, or whether his interest ends with straws.