--- description: As a part of their 2020 merchandise, President Trump's campaign is selling their own plastic straws saying to combat "liberal paper straws" title: President Trump's 2020 Campaign Is Now Selling Plastic Straws: 'Liberal Paper Straws Don't Work' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b0738e97aaabea7/698a002809208f7844415432/trump-rally-congresswomen-send-her-back.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2020 Presidential Election](/tag/2020-presidential-election/) ## 2020 Presidential Election Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # President Trump's 2020 Campaign Is Now Selling Plastic Straws: 'Liberal Paper Straws Don't Work' by [Josiah Bates](/author/josiah-bates/) ## Josiah Bates Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close 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 CUTPublished: Jul 20, 2019 7:46 PM CUT  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](/author/josiah-bates/) ## Josiah Bates Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close 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 CUTPublished: Jul 20, 2019 7:46 PM CUT 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 "undefined"), 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/ "undefined") 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/ "undefined") 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/ "undefined") 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/ "undefined") 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. The straws were also made in the U.S. and cost $15 for a 10 pack.","url":"https://time.com/5630949/trump-campaign-straws/","keywords":["2020 Presidential Election","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b0738e97aaabea7/698a002809208f7844415432/trump-rally-congresswomen-send-her-back.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Josiah Bates","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/josiah-bates/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b0738e97aaabea7/698a002809208f7844415432/trump-rally-congresswomen-send-her-back.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-TRUMP","caption":"US-POLITICS-TRUMP","creditText":"Nicholas Kamm—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2020-presidential-election/","name":"2020 Presidential Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5630949/trump-campaign-straws/","name":"President Trump's 2020 Campaign Is Now Selling Plastic Straws: 'Liberal Paper Straws Don't Work'"}}]}] ```