Donald Trump is going to “make America’s showers great again” by easing rules restricting water flow, the White House says.
The US president is ordering the energy secretary to rescind a change introduced by Barack Obama that restricted multi-nozzle showers from discharging over 2.5 gallons of water per minute overall.
This served “a radical green agenda that made life worse for Americans”, the White House said, as Trump criticised the “ridiculous” amount of time he says it takes to wet his hair in the shower.
Consumer and conservation groups have previously argued that changing the rules is wasteful and unnecessary.
According to the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, which shared a factsheet in 2024, efficiency standards in the US set more than three decades ago “reduce water waste… save consumers money on their water and energy bills and help protect the environment”.
Under a 1992 energy law, showerheads in the US are not allowed to produce more than 2.5 gallons (9.5l) of water per minute.
Obama introduced a redefinition, as part of an Energy Conservation Program, that meant for showers with multiple nozzles, the restriction applied overall rather than to each nozzle.
At the end of Trump’s first term, in 2020, he moved to allow each nozzle to produce up to 2.5 gallons a minute.
But when Joe Biden succeeded him as president, he stopped that.
The current administration has dubbed their efforts a “war on water pressure”, saying Americans “pay for their own water and should be free to choose their showerheads without federal meddling”.
Trump now wants to return to the “straightforward meaning” of ‘showerhead’ from the 1992 law.
According to the White House fact sheet: “The Order frees Americans from excessive regulations that turned a basic household item into a bureaucratic nightmare.
“No longer will showerheads be weak and worthless.”
The order says the change will come into effect 30 days after the energy secretary publishes a notice rescinding the definition.
While signing the order in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump said it was “ridiculous” he has to stand under the water for 15 minutes for his “beautiful” hair to get wet – echoing remarks he made during 2020.
At that time, he also complained about water not coming out of shower heads, saying his hair “has to be perfect”.
