(Reuters) WASHINGTON — Governor Janet Mills, a Democrat, and President Donald Trump battled Friday over federal monies that Trump threatened to remove from Maine due to transgender athletes playing women’s and girls’ sports.
Speaking to Republican and Democratic governors in the White House State Dining Room on Friday, Trump unveiled his latest executive order that bars trans athletes from participating in women’s sports. He then asked Maine’s governor if the state would cooperate, to which Mills objected.
“You better do it because you’re not going to get federal funding,” Trump told Mills.
The governor then confronted Trump and said, “We’re going to follow the law, sir. We’ll see you in court.”
Trump shot back with, “Enjoy your life after governor because I don’t think you’ll be an elected official afterwards.”
On the campaign road, Trump regularly attacked transgender athletes. His recently signed executive order has been criticized for violating the rights of a small percentage of athletes, while supporters have hailed it as a step towardrestoring fairness.
According to a January statement by NCAA President Charlie Baker, less than 10 athletes out of 510,000 collegiate athletes publicly identify as transgender.
By reinterpreting federal civil rights statutes, Trump is depending on the federal Education Department to fulfill the directive’s objective. Schools that violate these rules risk losing their government funding.
Two weeks ago, the Maine Principal’s Association declared that it will permit transgender girls and female athletes to compete in violation of Trump’s directive.
Its civil rights division is investigating the Maine Department of Education for possible violations of Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in education, the Education Department announced in a news release shortly after Friday’s altercation.
The inquiry will look into claims that the Maine DOE has “denied female athletes female-only intimate facilities, thereby violating federal antidiscrimination law” and “continues to allow male athletes to compete in girls’ interscholastic athletics.”
Following allegations that a school under its control is permitting “at least one male student to compete in girls’ categories,” the department announced that it is also looking into Maine School Administrative District #51.
Trump has already blasted Maine on the matter, as evidenced by the exchange on Friday. In separate remarks Thursday at a Republican Governors Association gathering, he threatened to withhold federal funds from the state if it did not follow his directive.
In a statement released Friday in response to the White House exchange, Mills said her state “will not be intimidated by the President’s threats.”
“If the President attempts to unilaterally deprive Maine school children of the benefit of Federal funding, my Administration and the Attorney General will take all appropriate and necessary legal action to restore that funding and the academic opportunity it provides,” the press release stated.
Already, transgender athletes are prohibited from playing collegiate or K–12 school sports in more than two dozen states.
Days before Trump took office, in January, the House approved a bill that would prohibit transgender women and girls from participating in female student athletic programs across the country. The bill’s chances of passing the Senate are unclear. Less than 1 percent of American adults are transgender, according to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, which focuses on LGBTQ issues.