Repeated complaints from Donald Trump about his haircare routine at the White House have prompted the US department of energy to propose rule changes that would allow increased water pressure from shower heads.

Under a 1992 law enacted by George H.W. Bush, shower heads in America are limited to allow 2.5 gallons (9.5 litres) of water through every minute.

However, the energy department has proposed a change that would see this limit applied to each nozzle, rather than the shower head as a whole. Speaking at a White House event on rolling back regulations last month, Trump said: “So shower heads — 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.”

Conservation groups argue that the change would create an unnecessary waste of both water and energy.

The Appliance Standards Awareness Project said: “Frankly, it’s silly. We’ve got a pandemic, serious drought throughout much of the West.

“We’ve got global climate change. Shower heads aren’t one of our — problems.”