Trump’s revenge: Wind, low-flow toilets and smelt

By Jennifer Yachnin, Robin Bravender | 01/24/2025 01:28 PM EST

The president used some of his first moves in office to tackle long-standing pet peeves.

Donald Trump and Melania Trump board Air Force One.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump board Air Force One on Friday at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, for a trip to North Carolina and California. Mark Schiefelbein/AP

Tucked inside President Donald Trump’s flurry of executive actions this week: policies attacking three of his least favorite things in the energy and environmental world.

Wind power, low-flow toilets and efforts to protect a tiny endangered fish all took a hit.

Trump has long been vocal about his skepticism about wind (he thinks the turbines are ugly); low-flow toilets (he thinks they’re too hard to flush) and the delta smelt (he questioned this week whether it’s really endangered).

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And he used his executive powers on the first day of his administration to target all of them. Trump ordered a pause in offshore wind leasing, declared it U.S. policy to “safeguard the American people’s freedom to choose” their toilets and showerheads, and issued an inauguration day memo aimed at efforts to safeguard the delta smelt.

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