Trump spars with Maine's governor Janet Mills at the White House over transgender athletes
Published Feb 21, 2025 Ā ā¢Ā 3 minute read
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In this combination photo, Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME) tells U.S. President Donald Trump, "See you in court," while he responds to her on the issue of trans women in sports as he spoke at a meeting of governors at the White House on Feb. 21, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Photo by Win McNamee /Getty Images photosPresident Donald Trump sparred with Maineās Democratic governor during a meeting of governors at the White House on Friday, with Gov. Janet Mills telling the Republican president, āWeāll see you in court,ā over his push to deny federal funding to the state over transgender athletes.
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Trump told the governor he looked forward to it and predicted the end of her political career for opposing his order. Later Friday, the U.S. Department of Education said it was initiating an investigation into the Maine Department of Education over the inclusion of transgender athletes.
The confrontation during the meeting came after Mills and Trump had traded barbs over the last 24 hours regarding his push to bar transgender athletes from playing in girlsā and womenās sports. The confrontation in the State Dining Room was an unusual breach of the typically courteous interactions that lawmakers, even of opposing parties, have historically shared at the White House.
The back-and-forth came in the middle of the presidentās remarks welcoming the nationās governors to the White House. As he was speaking about an executive order he signed earlier this month on transgender athletes, he sought out Mills in the room after singling her out a day earlier in remarks to the Republican Governors Association.
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āIs Maine here, the governor of Maine?ā he asked.
āIām here,ā she replied.
āAre you not going to comply with it?ā he asked.
āIām complying with state and federal laws,ā Mills replied.
Trump responded, āWe are the federal law.ā He again threatened the stateās federal funding and said Maine may be a Democratic state but its residents largely agree with him on this issue.
āWeāre going to follow the law,ā she said.
āYouād better comply,ā Trump warned. āOtherwise, youāre not getting any federal funding.ā
āWeāll see you in court,ā the governor replied.
āGood, Iāll see you in court. I look forward to that. That should be a real easy one,ā Trump said. āAnd enjoy your life after governor because I donāt think youāll be in elected politics.ā
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Trump made a similar funding threat Thursday night as he spoke to a group of Republican governors. He said that he āheard men are still playing in Maineā and that he would pull funding because of it.
āSo weāre not going to give them any federal funding. None whatsoever, until they clean that up,ā Trump said.
The Maine Principalsā Association, which governs high school sports in the state, said earlier this month that it would continue to allow transgender female athletes to compete. The associationās executive director, Mike Burnham, said it would follow the Maine Human Rights Act, which bars discrimination based on gender identity.
The U.S. Department of Educationās Office of Civil Rights said in a letter sent later Friday to the commissioner of the state Department of Education that it was launching an investigation amid āallegations that it continues to allow male athletes to compete in girlsā interscholastic athletics,ā which it called a violation of federal antidiscrimination law.
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The U.S. Department of Educationās statement said state laws do not override federal antidiscrimination laws. If the state wants to continue to receive federal funds from the education department, it must follow Title IX, said Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights with the education department, in a statement.
The office of Maineās attorney general declined to comment Friday. Emails sent to other state officials seeking comment Friday were not immediately returned.
Earlier Friday, Mills and Maineās Democratic attorney general, Aaron Frey, pushed back against Trumpās comments the night before.
Mills said the state āwill not be intimidatedā by Trumpās threats.
āIf 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,ā Mills said in a statement before the confrontation with Trump.
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Frey said he would ādefend Maineās laws and block efforts by the president to bully and threaten us.ā
The order Trump signed earlier this month gives federal agencies wide latitude to make sure entities that receive federal funding abide by Title IX in alignment with the Trump administrationās view, which interprets āsexā as the gender someone was assigned at birth.
The federal government could penalize organizations such as schools or athletic associations that do not comply, possibly by pulling funding such as grants to educational programs.
ā Price reported from New York. Whittle reported from Scarborough, Maine. Associated Press writer Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix contributed to this report.
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