AP Photo/ Evan Vucc
President Donald Trump
- At a Friday meeting at the White House, President Donald Trump spoke at length about water and energy conservation in bathrooms.
- He said "we're looking very strongly at sinks and showers and other elements of bathrooms" because, among other reasons, "people are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times."
- Earlier in the meeting, Trump also jokingly complained that energy-saving lightbulbs made him look bad, saying, "Of course, being a vain person that's very important to me."
- As The New York Times reported in December 2017, Trump "has an odd affinity for showing off bathrooms, including one he renovated near the Oval Office."
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At a Friday meeting at the White House, President Donald Trump expounded at length about water and energy conservation, saying the Environmental Protection Agency is looking into restrictions in part because, he claims, "people" are flushing their toilets 10 to 15 times instead of once and are therefore using more water.
"We have a situation where we're looking very strongly at sinks and showers and other elements of bathrooms, where you turn the faucet on in areas where there's tremendous amounts of water, where it all flows out to sea because you could never handle it all, and you don't get any wate," he said. "They take a shower and water comes dripping out, very quietly dripping out. People are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times, as opposed to once, they end up using more water. So EPA is looking very strongly at that, at my suggestion.
"You go into a new building, new house, a new home and they have standards where don't get water, and you can't wash your hands practically, there's so little water," he added. "And the end result is that you leave the faucet on and it takes you much longer to wash your hands, and you end up using the same amount of water. So we're looking very seriously at opening up the standard and there may be some areas where we go the other route, desert areas, but for the most part you have states where they have so much water where it comes down - its called rain - that they don't know what to do with it."
Earlier in the meeting, Trump also jokingly complained about energy-saving lightbulbs. "They got rid of the lightbulb that people got used to," he said. "The new bulb is many times more expensive and I hate to say it, it doesn't make you look as good. Of course, being a vain person that's very important to me. It gives you an orange look, I don't want an orange look, has anyone noticed? So we'll have to change those bulbs in rooms where I'm in."
Trump's interest in light bulbs and his appearance shouldn't be a surprise, but neither should his lengthy comments about water usage in bathrooms.
As The New York Times reported in December 2017, Trump "is naturally garrulous, and loves to give White House tours. He has an odd affinity for showing off bathrooms, including one he renovated near the Oval Office."
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Here's the video, via WaPo, of Trump discussing toilet flushing: "We have a situation where we're looking very strongly at sinks and showers, and other elements of bathrooms ... You turn on the faucet and you don't get any water … People are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times." pic.twitter.com/pPE0im4RxL
- Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 6, 2019