--- title: Trump Campaign Is Now Selling Plastic Straws description: As a part of their 2020 merchandise, President Trump's campaign is selling their own plastic straws saying to combat "liberal paper straws" canonical: https://time.com/5630949/trump-campaign-straws/ author: Josiah Bates article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-07-20T19:46:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T22:27:49.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump's 2020 Campaign Is Now Selling Plastic Straws: 'Liberal Paper Straws Don't Work' og:description: As a part of their 2020 merchandise, President Trump's campaign is selling their own plastic straws og:url: https://time.com/5630949/trump-campaign-straws/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b0738e97aaabea7/698a002809208f7844415432/trump-rally-congresswomen-send-her-back.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-TRUMP og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump's 2020 Campaign Is Now Selling Plastic Straws: 'Liberal Paper Straws Don't Work' twitter:description: As a part of their 2020 merchandise, President Trump's campaign is selling their own plastic straws twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b0738e97aaabea7/698a002809208f7844415432/trump-rally-congresswomen-send-her-back.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump's 2020 Campaign Is Now Selling Plastic Straws: 'Liberal Paper Straws Don't Work' > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=aeec27d2-4b8a-482d-baab-f5505fe2c458&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Josiah Bates](https://time.com/author/josiah-bates/) ## Josiah Bates Josiah Bates is a criminal justice reporter and a former TIME staff writer. He currently works for The Trace. Updated: Dec 12, 2023 10:27 PM UTCPublished: Jul 20, 2019 7:46 PM UTC  President Donald Trump pumps his fists as he arrives for a "Make America Great Again" rally at Minges Coliseum in Greenville, North Carolina, on July 17, 2019. President Donald Trump pumps his fists as he arrives for a "Make America Great Again" rally at Minges Coliseum in Greenville, North Carolina, on July 17, 2019. Nicholas Kamm—AFP/Getty Images by [Josiah Bates](https://time.com/author/josiah-bates/) ## Josiah Bates Josiah Bates is a criminal justice reporter and a former TIME staff writer. He currently works for The Trace. Updated: Dec 12, 2023 10:27 PM UTCPublished: Jul 20, 2019 7:46 PM UTC President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign store sells “Make America Great Again” hats, T-shirts, cups, towels and even dog leashes. But one of its newest items might be one of the campaign’s biggest attempt to troll the other side: Trump-branded plastic straws. According to [the campaign store](https://shop.donaldjtrump.com/products/trump-straws), for $15, those interested can purchase a 10-pack of the red straws with Trump’s name “laser engraved” on them. The new campaign merchandise seems to come as a response to increasing concerned about plastic usage and waste. A video that went viral last year of a marine biologist [removing a plastic straw](https://time.com/5339037/turtle-video-plastic-straw-ban/) from a sea turtle’s nose brought attention to the issue and many communities and businesses have begun [to ban](https://time.com/5336242/plastic-straws-history/) the use of plastic straws altogether. The description of the Trump straws is not subtle about the message the merchandise is meant to send. “Liberal paper straws don’t work. Stand with President Trump and buy your pack of recyclable straws today,” it reads. Trump’s campaign manager, Brad Parscale, tweeted about the new straws on Thursday, saying “Make Straws Great Again.” > [](https://twitter.com/parscale/status/1151978569763082240) Though the straws themselves do obviously seem meant to troll environmental concerns about plastic waste, the description also points out that they are reusable and recyclable. It also says they were made in the U.S. Plastic straws have started to [disappear](https://time.com/5335955/plastic-straws-disabled/) from restaurants, coffee shops, hotels and airlines. Cities and states have also cut back on the use of plastic straws. Some cities like Seattle have completely banned them. In response to Parscale’s tweet, Donald Trump Jr. joked that the straws might be illegal in some states. > [](https://twitter.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/1152001771704729601) Parscale said that more than 140,000 straws have been sold as of Monday morning. > [](https://twitter.com/parscale/status/1153312182207225856) The sale of plastic straws comes on the heels of Trump [touting his environmental record](https://time.com/5622374/donald-trump-climate-change-hoax-event/) earlier this month, saying that under his leadership, America has the cleanest water and air in the world. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5630949/trump-campaign-straws/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5630949/trump-campaign-straws/"},"headline":"President Trump's 2020 Campaign Is Now Selling Plastic Straws: 'Liberal Paper Straws Don't Work'","datePublished":"2019-07-20T19:46:18.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-12T22:27:49.000Z","description":"According to the campaign website, the straws come with Trump's name laser engraved on it and are recyclable and reusable. 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