Trump Signs EO to End “War on Water Pressure”: “Make America’s Showers Great Again”; Huckabee Confirmed as Israel Ambassador

President Trump signed an executive order in April 2025 reversing Obama-Biden era water pressure restrictions on showers, dishwashers, toilets, and sinks, saying: “I like to take a nice shower to take care of my beautiful hair. I have to stand in this shower for 15 minutes until it gets wet. It comes out drip, drip, drip. It’s ridiculous.” A White House official explained the order would “ensure Americans have choice in the consumer market — if they want a low-flow shower head, they can buy one. If they want a real-deal shower head, they should have the ability.” Trump also signed Mike Huckabee’s commission as U.S. Ambassador to Israel, joking: “He’s going to bring home the bacon — even though bacon isn’t too big in Israel."

"The War on Showers”

A White House official introduced the executive order with the framework.

“The Biden administration launched what you’ve called a war on showers,” the official said. “They had certain regulations that basically killed the water pressure of showers and other water appliances.”

Trump prompted the full list: “You can say it. Go ahead. What are the appliances?”

“I mean, it’s everything, sir. Dishwashers, toilets, sinks. But the shower heads are a huge deal. You don’t get water. It’s ridiculous.”

The official described the solution: “With this executive order, we’re effectively going to be reversing that set of regulations to ensure that Americans have choice in the consumer market. If they want a low-flow shower head, they can buy one. If they want a real-deal shower head, they should have the ability.”

The consumer choice framing was central to the deregulation argument. The Biden-era regulations had not given Americans a choice between low-flow and standard fixtures; they had mandated low-flow for everyone. The Trump order restored the market — allowing consumers who valued water conservation to purchase low-flow products while allowing those who valued water pressure to buy standard fixtures.

”Drip, Drip, Drip”

Trump delivered his personal experience of the water pressure regulations with the comedic timing that had made the issue one of his signature populist causes.

“You buy a new house, you pay a lot of money, and the developers — you’re not allowed to do anything more,” he said. “They put restrictors on. They used to have a restrictor where you could take it out. But now they weld it in.”

He cataloged the absurdity: “You take a shower or wash your hands. Whatever you do, including dishwashers — when no water comes out, you wash your hands.”

Then the personal touch: “In my case, I like to take a nice shower to take care of my beautiful hair. I have to stand in this shower for 15 minutes until it gets wet. It comes out drip, drip, drip. It’s ridiculous.”

He pointed out the self-defeating nature of the regulations: “What you do is you end up washing your hands five times longer. It’s all the same water.”

The observation that low-flow fixtures caused people to use them longer — negating the water savings — was both humorous and substantively accurate. Studies had shown that low-flow shower heads and faucets often led to extended use times as people compensated for the reduced flow, in some cases resulting in equal or greater water consumption than standard fixtures.

Straws, Congress, and Memorialization

Trump connected the water pressure EO to the broader deregulation agenda.

“We’re going to open it up so that people can live,” he said. “And we’re going to hopefully have Congress approve it, so it’s memorialized.”

He listed the scope: “We’re going to try and get all of these things, including straws — little things like straws. We did straws a month ago, where the paper straws were melting. They were dissolving. They weren’t working well. We went back to the plastic straws.”

He described the legislative strategy: “We’re going to get Congress to memorialize just about everything we’ve done here, because most of it’s common sense.”

Trump cited his record: “I think we set a record. We’ll have 500 amendments. Nobody’s ever done that.”

The congressional memorialization strategy was important for permanence. Executive orders could be reversed by future presidents — as Biden had reversed Trump’s first-term water pressure changes within his first week. By getting Congress to pass legislation encoding these deregulation measures, the administration aimed to make them durable.

He provided the timeline: “Congress is going to start working on it as soon as we get the big, beautiful deal done. The biggest tax cuts in the history of our country — that’s important.”

The Biden First-Week Reversal

Trump addressed the history of the water pressure issue.

“I did it in the first administration,” he said. “Biden came in, and it was like first week, and he had no idea what he was doing, but somebody told him to do it. In his first week, he put the restrictions on all the bathroom utilities.”

He noted the geographical absurdity: “Even in areas that have so much water, they don’t know what to do with it. You see those areas all the time with the flooding.”

The point was that water pressure restrictions were applied uniformly nationwide, regardless of local water availability. Communities experiencing chronic flooding were subject to the same low-flow mandates as communities in drought-prone areas. The one-size-fits-all federal regulation ignored the basic reality that water scarcity varied enormously across the country.

Huckabee: Ambassador to Israel

Trump then signed Mike Huckabee’s commission as U.S. Ambassador to Israel.

“The Senate confirmed Governor Huckabee to be your next ambassador to Israel earlier today,” the official said.

Trump offered the endorsement: “He’s going to be fantastic.”

Then the joke: “He’s going to bring home the bacon — even though bacon isn’t too big in Israel.”

Trump paused: “I had to clear that up.”

The Huckabee appointment reflected the administration’s commitment to the U.S.-Israel relationship. Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor and longtime supporter of Israel, had been one of the most vocal pro-Israel voices in Republican politics. His confirmation by the Senate — coming on the same day as the Netanyahu trade discussions and the Iran negotiations — positioned him to play a central role in the Middle East diplomacy that was accelerating under the Trump administration.

The “bring home the bacon” quip — immediately followed by the self-aware correction about Israel’s dietary laws — was characteristic Trump humor: a malapropism caught in real time, acknowledged with a grin, and turned into a moment of warmth.

Key Takeaways

• Trump signed an EO reversing Biden-era water pressure restrictions: “It comes out drip, drip, drip. It’s ridiculous. You end up washing five times longer — it’s all the same water.”
• The order restores consumer choice: low-flow or standard fixtures. “If they want a real-deal shower head, they should have the ability.”
• Biden reversed Trump’s first-term fix “in his first week” — Trump: “He had no idea what he was doing, but somebody told him to do it.”
• Trump plans to memorialize all 500 deregulation actions through Congress: “Most of it’s common sense.”
• Mike Huckabee confirmed as Ambassador to Israel. Trump: “He’s going to bring home the bacon — even though bacon isn’t too big in Israel.”