EPA officials couldn’t help but be baffled by President Trump’s unwieldy rant about toilets during a small business roundtable at the White House in December.
According to an NBC News report Thursday, the top EPA official overseeing the agency’s WaterSense program couldn’t believe how Trump complained about how “people are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times, as opposed to once” and “end up using more water” during the roundtable. Trump suddenly pivoted to his toilet rant after addressing a deadly shooting at a Naval base in Pensacola, Florida.
In an email to colleagues Dec. 6 — which was one of several emails obtained by NBC News via a Freedom of Information Act request — Veronica Blette, the chief of WaterSense in the EPA’s Office of Wastewater Management, wrote “I can’t even” and attached a video of the President’s remarks.
In another tweet reacting to Trump’s remarks to coworkers, Blette wrote: “Sigh,” according to NBC News.
Not all EPA officials had the same reaction as Blette, however.
NBC News also noted that WaterSense brand manager Beth Livingston expressed a more playful attitude in emails to her colleagues reacting to Trump’s rant.
In response to a faucet company executive who suggested, “(you) have your work cut out for you convincing No. 45 (Trump) on your program,” Livingston responded in an email dated Dec. 9: “Nothing like a challenge!”
“We don’t like faucets that only put one drop of water on my hands — LOL — the only ones I think of that might actually just drip are for Barbie doll play houses!” Livingston wrote in the Dec. 9 email.
Responding to NBC News’ report, an EPA spokesperson told TPM in a statement Thursday that the agency is “working with all federal partners including (the) Department of Energy to review the implementation of the Federal Energy Management Plan and how its relevant programs interact with it to ensure American consumers have more choice when purchasing water products.”
The White House declined to comment when reached by TPM Thursday afternoon.
Read NBC News’ report here.
