It looks like President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have found common ground—hating paper straws.
Musk, Tesla’s billionaire CEO and head of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has shared his thoughts on paper straws before. He’s not a fan.
Back in 2022, Musk wrote on X, “Stop the war on straws!” In August 2024, he called paper straws “the worst” in another post.
Paper straws and strawless lids became popular alternatives over the past decade. The push was mostly about reducing plastic pollution and helping the environment.
But Trump is done with them. He signed an executive order to “end the procurement and forced use of paper straws.”
“We’re going back to plastic straws. These things don’t work,” Trump said as he signed the order Monday. “I’ve had many, and on occasion, they break, they explode. If something’s hot, they don’t last. Sometimes just seconds. It’s ridiculous. We’re going back to plastic.”
The executive order followed his recent Truth Social post promising to “end the ridiculous Biden push for paper straws, which don’t work.” He ended the post with a firm, “BACK TO PLASTIC!”
Musk responded by calling Trump the “Greatest President ever.”
The Biden administration had pushed to phase out single-use plastics in federal operations by 2027 and eliminate them by 2035. Their reasoning? A “plastic pollution crisis.”
Plastic straws, forks, cups, and other single-use items were all part of that plan.
In 2022, the Department of Interior issued its own order to reduce single-use plastics on federal lands by 2032. The effort was tied to a broader executive order signed by Biden in December 2021.
Interestingly, studies found 90% of paper straws tested contained forever chemicals—higher than the 75% found in plastic straws.
It seems the war on straws isn’t over just yet.