During his time in office, the President has repeatedly expressed his dissatisfaction with one issue in particular: the water pressure of his shower heads.
This may not seem like a concern that should rise to the level of the President (especially when almost no one else seems to have a problem with their shower heads) but when you have hair as beautiful as Donald Trump's, the amount of water in your shower makes all the difference.
The Department of Energy announced on Wednesday, August 12, that it was planning to alter the water conservation regulations passed by George H.W. Bush so that multiple shower heads could be attached to a single fitting.
The previous regulations, passed in 1992, say that shower heads may use only up to 2.5 gallons of water per minute. Trump is seeking to amend the rule so that this limit applies to each shower head attached to a single fitting.
Trump's motivations for pursuing this obscure environmental regulation aren't hard to figure out. In July, the President said:
"Showerheads — you take a shower, the water doesn't come out. You want to wash your hands, the water doesn't come out."
"So what do you do? You just stand there longer or you take a shower longer? Because my hair — I don't know about you, but it has to be perfect. Perfect."
A reasonable person might point out that this is almost definitely not a President-level problem, and many others would claim it's not a real issue at all. But the President has been fixated on it for some time.
Last December, Trump said to reporters:
"They take a shower, the water comes dripping out, it's dripping out very quietly, people are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times as opposed to once, they end up using more water."
"So EPA is looking at that very strongly, at my suggestion."
Andrew DeLaski, executive director of the energy conservation group Appliance Standards Awareness Project, described Trump's rollbacks as "repeated false complaint that toilets, faucets, and other household fixtures have been ruined by federal efficiency standards."
Though Trump's strange desire for more water in his showers may seem frivolous, it could have unfortunate real-world consequences. DeLaski wrote on his blog:
"DOE proposed a rule to approve new showerheads that waste enormous amounts of water and energy, which would increase utility bills and greenhouse gas emissions."
In this time of national crisis, the President is once again showing us where his priorities lie.
