‘I don’t think that plastic’s going to affect a shark very much as they’re eating — as they’re munching their way through the ocean,’ said Trump
U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to “end the forced use of paper straws” and bring back plastic ones, the White House said Monday.
“These things don’t work,” said Trump, while signing the document, referring to paper straws. “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 so we’re going back to plastic straws.”
He added: “I don’t think that plastic’s going to affect a shark very much as they’re eating — as they’re munching their way through the ocean.”
“Back to plastic!” he wrote.
Trump’s order is a major shift in policy since some states and individual cities have limited the use of or banned plastic straws years ago.
Several cities also took the matter into their own hands.
“The average lifespan for a straw is 30 minutes. Straws take from 200-500 years to decompose and continue to be a threat to wildlife as they photo-degrade into microplastics. Plastic pollution — like single-use plastic straws — impact critically endangered sea turtles at every stage of their life,” TIRN says.
“To prevent another sea turtle from becoming a victim to plastic, we must make personal lifestyle alterations to fight for these species,” the group said in a statement, the Associated Press reported.
Conversely, the move was praised by CEO of the Plastics Industry Association Matt Seaholm. In a post on X, Seaholm thanked Trump.
“On behalf of the plastics industry and anyone who has ever been forced to use a paper straw, thank you, Mr. President!” he wrote.
The government noted exceptions for the ban, allowing the use of plastic straws “for people in Canada who require them for medical or accessibility reasons,” including “for use at home, in social settings, or in healthcare settings, such as hospitals and long‑term care facilities.”
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