On Wednesday, Donald Trump fulfilled one of his long-standing priorities by changing the federal definition of “shower head,” which the White House claimed would “end the Obama-Biden war on water pressure.”
Trump has long complained about low water pressure in American showers, sinks, and toilets, blaming the problem on federal water-conservation standards.
“In my case, I like to take a nice shower to take care of my beautiful hair,” Trump said as he signed the executive order, which the White House said would cover a wide range of household appliances, including toilets and sinks. “I have to stand under the shower for 15 minutes until it is wet. It comes out in drips. “That’s ridiculous.”
The White House said in a statement about the executive order, “By restoring shower freedom, President Trump is following through on his commitment to dismantle unnecessary regulations and put Americans first.”
Some appliance experts have noticed Trump’s continued focus on American water pressure.
“It was striking that the White House memo listed toilets and shower heads as presidential priorities. In January, Andrew deLaski, executive director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, told the Guardian, “It was truly remarkable.” “But I think Donald Trump’s concerns are somewhat out of date, to tell you the truth.”
Trump’s remarks on Wednesday echoed those he has made numerous times before. He claimed in 2019 that “people are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times, as opposed to once” due to low water pressure. “When you go into these new homes with showers, the water drips down slowly, slowly,” he told me in 2023.
During his first term as president, Trump reversed stricter energy-efficiency standards for lightbulbs, citing consumer choice as the reason for the change.
Xavier Becerra, then-Attorney General of California, called it “another dim-witted move that will waste energy at the expense of our people and planet” at the time. The first Trump White House also created loopholes for inefficient appliances like dishwashers and showers, which were later reversed by Joe Biden.
“Biden undid this progress, and the shower wars continued,” the White House stated on Wednesday, claiming that Trump’s new executive order would “make America’s showers great again”.
