Newly unearthed emails reveal EPA officials utterly baffled by Trump's rants about toilets

Government officials were astonished by President Donald Trump's rants about toilets that must be flushed more than a dozen times, according to newly revealed documents.

Emails released under the Freedom of Information Act show EPA officials struggling to make sense of Trump's complaints about government regulations on toilets, faucets and dishwashers, reported NBC News.

"I can't even," wrote Veronica Blette, head of WaterSense in the EPA's Office of Wastewater Management in a Dec. 6 email to colleagues. "Sigh."

Trump told reporters in early December that EPA officials would be "looking very strongly at sinks and showers and other elements of bathrooms," because "people are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times as opposed to once."

He made a similar claim last month at a Milwaukee campaign rally.

"Toilets and showers, you do not get any water," Trump said. "They put restrictions on them and now they are permanent. Try going and buying a new faucet. Turn it on and no water comes out. I have this beautiful head of hair, I need a lot of water. You go into the shower and ... drip, drip."

An executive with one faucet company wished good luck to Beth Livingston, WaterSense brand manager, in convincing the president that the program was necessary.

"Nothing like a challenge!" Livingston wrote on Dec. 9. "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!"

Conservatives have complained for decades about water saving regulations enacted under President George H.W. Bush, arguing that people end up using more water to make up for lower flow.

But the EPA and independent environmental experts agree those complaints are bunk.