Former U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to eliminate regulations limiting water pressure in household showerheads, claiming the weak water flow forces him to spend too long in the shower.
On April 9, Trump directed Energy Secretary Chris Wright to revoke rules introduced under former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden that restricted the water pressure of residential bathroom fixtures, including showerheads.
“I like showering, taking care of my beautiful hair,” Trump told reporters as he signed the order in the Oval Office. “I have to stand under the shower for about 15 minutes just to get my hair wet. The water just trickles out. It’s ridiculous.”
In an accompanying information release, the White House said the move aims to eliminate excessive regulations that “stifle the American economy, reinforce bureaucracy, and restrict personal freedoms.”
Since 1992, U.S. federal law has capped water flow from showerheads at 2.5 gallons (approximately 9.5 liters) per minute. As newer shower systems often include multiple nozzles, the Obama administration had ruled that the combined output of all nozzles must not exceed the limit.
Trump has long been vocal about his desire to roll back water-saving bathroom policies. “I don’t know about your hair, but I want mine to be perfect,” he once said outside the White House in 2020.
In August 2020, during Trump’s first term, the U.S. Department of Energy amended the rule to allow each nozzle in a multi-nozzle shower to spray up to 2.5 gallons per minute. The Biden administration reversed this change in July 2021.
“I go into the shower, and I want my beautiful hair to be covered in foam,” Trump said during a speech in Detroit in June 2024. “I want my hair full of foam. I take the best shampoo and lather it all over. Then I turn on the shower, and the damn water just drips out. I can’t rinse the soap out of my hair. It’s terrible”