Featured Image Credit: ABC News
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, Celebrity, US News, News, Environment
Rhiannon Ingle
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, Celebrity, US News, News, Environment
Donald Trump has sparked backlash after signing an executive order reverting back to plastic straws, declaring paper straws 'don't work'.
The US' previous president, Joe Biden, made efforts to phase out single-use plastic - including plastic straws, cups and cutlery - in favour of paper ones.
Trump, a long-standing critic of paper straws, has since done away with such policies, previously posting on his social media platform Truth Social: "I will be signing an Executive Order next week ending the ridiculous Biden push for Paper Straws, which don't work. BACK TO PLASTIC!"
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Speaking at the White House earlier this week on Monday (10 February), the 78-year-old Republican told reporters: "We're going back to plastic straws."
Trump continued: "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."
Trump then went on to downplay any environmental concerns, stating: "I don't think plastic is going to affect a shark much as they’re munching their way through the ocean."
After catching light of his latest executive order, critics rushed to social media to share their reactions to the news.
One Twitter user hit out: "The most powerful man in the world uses this power to… ban plastic straws. Claiming 'they explode'.
"'I don’t think plastics are going to affect a shark very much… as they’re munching their way through the ocean'. What. A. F*cking. Moron."
A second slammed: "Trump is an idiot: signs order to bring back plastic straws, claiming paper ones 'explode'."
"Trump put in an executive order yesterday to eliminate paper straws and go back to plastic. I wish I was lying when I said this," a third piped up.
A fourth chimed in: "It never ceases to amaze me how Trump will go out of his way to make things worse: Experts all agreed that plastic straws are bad for the climate, and yet here we are."
"Trump is so lost. We’re going back to plastic straws?" lamented another while a final Twitter user added: "The fact that we are in a timeline where Trump signs an EO about plastic straws… never did I ever."
According to Beyond Plastics, more than 15 million metric tons of plastic enters the ocean each year and, by 2025, experts predicted that there will be one pound of plastic in the ocean for every three pounds of fish.
"Plastic straws are an unnecessary utensil for the vast majority of people and are usually thrown away after just one use," the website outlines.
"They may be small and lightweight but they’re a BIG problem - Americans use millions of plastic straws each day.
"These straws are not recyclable so they end up in landfills and incinerators as well as littering our streets, parks and roadsides, clogging our gutters, rivers, lakes, streams, and polluting our environment where they may persist for more than 200 years."