President Donald Trump, Governor Janet Mills get into heated exchange at White House over gender, sports

President Donald Trump and Maine Governor Janet Mills sparred over the President’s executive order banning biological males from participating in women’s sports during Friday’s meeting with a bipartisan group of governors at the White House.

The same day Trump signed his executive order, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” on Feb. 5, the NCAA announced it would be changing its policies involving transgender female participation in women’s collegiate sports to align with the new executive order.

During Friday’s meeting with U.S. governors in the White House, Trump made it a point to acknowledge the NCAA’s decision to comply with his order before going in on the Maine governor.

“The NCAA has complied immediately, by the way, and that’s good. I understand Maine … is Maine here, the governor of Maine?” Trump said.

After Mills, a Democrat, acknowledged her presence at the event, Trump asked her directly if Maine planned to comply with his executive order.

“I’m complying with state and federal laws,” Mills responded.

“Well we are the federal law … you better do it, you better do it because you’re not going to get any federal funding at all if you don’t,” Trump barked back. “And by the way, your population, even though it’s somewhat liberal — although I did very well there — your population doesn’t want men playing in women’s sports. So you better comply, otherwise you’re not getting any federal funding.”

Mills: “See you in court.”

Trump: “Good, I’ll see you in court. I look forward to that. That should be be a real easy one. … And enjoy your life after, Governor, because I don’t think you’ll be in elected politics.”

The Maine Principals Association, which governs high school sports in the state, announced earlier this month that it would continue to permit transgender females — those born biological males but have since transitioned — to compete in female sports, citing the Maine Human Rights Act that bars discrimination based on gender identity, according to the Associated Press.

“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,” Mills said in a statement prior to her confrontation with President Trump, according to the AP.

President Trump’s executive order banning individuals born male from participating in women’s sports was the latest effort to restrict transgenderism, following a sweeping order on his first day. That made it U.S. policy to define an individual’s sex as only male and female and for those designations to be reflected on official government-issued documents such as IDs and passports, and in polices such as federal prison assignments.

“In recent years, many educational institutions and athletic associations have allowed men to compete in women’s sports,” the order states. “This is demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls, and denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports. Moreover, under Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 (Title IX), educational institutions receiving Federal funds cannot deny women an equal opportunity to participate in sports.

“As some Federal courts have recognized, “ignoring fundamental biological truths between the two sexes deprives women and girls of meaningful access to educational facilities.” … Therefore, it is the policy of the United States to rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities, which results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy. It shall also be the policy of the United States to oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports more broadly, as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.”

On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report.

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