Overview

• The GOP’s official X account proclaimed that President Trump was “making straws great again” by reversing Biden’s paper-straw phase-out in federal facilities.
• Online commentators denounced the tweet as a deliberate diversion from scrutiny over withheld Jeffrey Epstein investigation files following a June Justice Department memo.
• The Federal Procurement Office published a proposal on July 21 requiring contractors to use only plastic straws, advancing the administration’s February executive order.
• The Trump team maintains there is no evidence to challenge the ruling that Epstein died by suicide and denies the existence of a so-called client list.
• Environmental advocates warn the policy reversal threatens efforts to curb plastic pollution and dispute claims that paper alternatives are costlier or less durable.