Trump Boasts of Putting 'a Lot More Water' in Dishwashers & Bringing Back 'Old-Fashioned' Bulbs
President Donald Trump on Thursday added to the long list of opinions he has on household appliances while speaking at a campaign-like event that the White House insisted was organized to tout deregulation.
While boasting of how "we're bringing back consumer choice," Trump, 74, soon began sounding off on the familiar subject of showers and dishwashers and lightbulbs.
In a sometimes rambling set of comments, the president talked of how, in contrast to the terrible old versions, his administration's rollbacks had improved all three products.
Deregulatory efforts have been a central — if less-discussed — priority for the Trump White House, which aides argue boost businesses and save people money, though other groups say the moves could have far-reaching consequences.
One recent environmental reversal was labeled "the single biggest giveaway to polluters in the past 40 years."
Speaking from the White House's South Lawn on Thursday, Trump said: "We're bringing back consumer choice in home appliances so that you can buy washers and dryers, showerheads and faucets."
"So, showerheads," he continued. "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."
Trump received laughter and applause from the supportive crowd gathered outside the White House. He next complained about the water levels inside dishwashers, which cause trouble for "the people that do the dishes."
"Dishwashers," he said, "You didn’t have any water, so you — the people that do the dishes — you press it, and it goes again, and you do it again and again. So, you might as well give them the water because you’ll end up using less water. So, we made it so dishwashers now have a lot more water. And in many places — in most places of the country — water is not a problem. They don’t know what to do with it. It’s called 'rain.' They don’t have a problem."
Drew Angerer/Getty A truck and construction lift are displayed outside of the White House on Thursday as a backdrop for Trump's speech about his deregulatory efforts.
Trump then began talking about "old-fashioned" incandescent lightbulbs and received more applause when he bragged, "I brought them back," referencing his administration’s efforts to block rules that would have required all Americans to use energy-efficient bulbs.
Like windmills, lightbulbs are a particular target of his ire in part because he said the light they put out is unflattering.
Such complaints are regular features of his public events, including at January rallies in Michigan and Wisconsin.
“The new lightbulb costs you five times as much and it makes you look orange,” Trump lamented to a Milwaukee crowd on Jan. 14.
In late December, he complained that energy-efficient lightbulbs made "you look terrible" and "cost you many, many times more."
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Drew Angerer/Getty President Donald Trump speaks during an event about regulatory reform on the South Lawn of the White House on Thursday.
Trump has previously complained that the noise that windmills create "causes cancer."
“If you have a windmill anywhere near your house, congratulations, your house just went down 75 percent in value," he said in 2019. "And they say the noise causes cancer."
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican supporter of wind energy who has separated himself at times from the Trump administration, called the president's 2019 statements "idiotic."
Sen. Brian Schatz, a Democratic lawmaker from Hawaii and frequent Trump critic, raised concern about the president's priorities as The New York Times reported Friday that at least 138,200 people have died from the novel coronavirus.
"Donald Trump has given up on doing anything meaningful about Coronavirus, and is talking about showerheads and beans," Schatz tweeted. "It might be a little funny if it weren't lethal."
