Governors have revealed what went down at what was supposed to be a routine meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House.
The gathering of the nation’s top leaders was billed as an effort to promote dialogue and bipartisan problem-solving; but what unfolded behind the closed doors was anything but routine.
Maine’s woke Democratic Governor Janet Mills, 77, and President Trump, 78, engaged in a fiery exchange with tensions reaching boiling point when the discussion turned to transgender athletes and school sports.
Trump forcefully reiterated his executive order barring transgender athletes from women’s sports which mandates that scholastic athletics align with biological sex or risk losing federal funding.
Mills, governor of the Pine Tree State since 2019, unwavering, shot back with a defiant, ‘See you in court.’
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 president’s remarks welcoming the nation’s governors to the White House.
Trump was making televised remarks to a gathering of the country’s governors at the White House when he raised the executive order he signed earlier this month.
Maine Governor Janet Mills spoke during a gathering of governors at the White House with President Donald Trump
Trump challenged Mills over trans women in sports as Trump addresses a meeting of governors at the White House
Mills looked utterly defeated and humiliated after President Trump excoriated her in public
‘Two weeks ago I signed an executive order banning men from playing in women’s sports. Many Democrats are fighting me on that, I hope you continue because you’ll never win another race,’ he said.
The ban is ‘to protect women,’ he claimed.
‘Are you not going to comply with it?’ he asked Mills.
‘I’m complying with state and federal laws,’ she responded.
‘Well, we are the federal law… You better do it, because you’re not going to get any federal funding at all if you don’t,’ the president said.
‘See you in court,’ she responded.
‘Good, I’ll see you in court. I look forward to that. That should be a real easy one. And enjoy your life after governor, because I don’t think you’ll be in elected politics,’ a visibly angry Trump replied.
Trump’s order allows US government agencies to deny funds to schools that allow transgender athletes to compete on women’s teams.
Mills told Trump ‘See you in court’ over the issue of trans women in sports as Trump addresses a meeting of governors at the White House
‘It was a little uncomfortable in the room,’ admitted National Governors Association (NGA) Vice Chairman and Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt.
Trump spoke at the Governors Working Session in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington on Friday
Trump made a similar funding threat on Thursday night as he spoke to a group of Republican governors. He said that he ‘heard men are still playing in Maine’ and that he would pull funding because of it.
‘So we’re not going to give them any federal funding. None whatsoever, until they clean that up,’ Trump said.
Some Maine officials have said they will continue a policy of allowing transgender students to choose which team they play on, citing state law under the Maine Human Rights Act, according to the Portland Press Herald.
Mills and the state’s attorney general have vowed to fight any move to deny the state federal funds, the newspaper reported.
The words cut through the room like a knife with some governors exchanging uneasy glances, while others, particularly Republican leaders, nodding in approval.
‘It was a little uncomfortable in the room,’ admitted National Governors Association (NGA) Vice Chairman and Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt. ‘But, like Governor Polis said, I wasn’t sure exactly what the backstory was behind the conflict there.’
Colorado Democratic Governor Jared Polis said the spat did little to advance the NGA’s goal of generating productive discourse.
‘We always hope that people can disagree in a way that elevates the discourse and tries to come to a common solution,’ he remarked.
Stitt, a staunch supporter of Trump’s policy, suggested that the moment might have served as a rallying cry for each parties’ political bases. ‘It may have been good politics for both sides,’ he noted.
Stitt further underscored his support for Trump’s stance, pointing out that he had spearheaded a similar policy in Oklahoma back in 2022.
Trump forcefully reiterated his executive order barring transgender athletes from women’s sports mandating scholastic athletics align with biological sex or risk losing federal funding
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 NCAA has followed that, I think the Olympics have. And then you have a governor saying that they’re not going to follow that. So, I don’t know what legal background she has, but they talked about seeing each other in court. And we’ll see what happens.’
Despite the acrimony, Trump, ever the businessman, sought to smooth things over with an offer that left some governors amused.
He assured state leaders that he was just a phone call away – especially if they were Democrats.
‘He is a businessman. He is not ideological. He wants to get things done,’ Stitt explained, recalling Trump’s jest that if both a Democrat and a Republican governor called at the same time, he would take the Democrat’s call first.
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaste revealed how Alabama Governor Kay Ivey had managed to secure direct lines to cabinet officials for better communication.
McMaster then joked Trump had offered an open line to all governors but wasn’t exactly handing out his personal number.
‘I’ve got it, but I’m going to hold onto it,’ McMaster quipped.
A statement cited allegations that Maine’s education department ‘continues to allow male athletes to compete in girls’ interscholastic athletics and that it has denied female athletes female-only intimate facilities, thereby violating federal anti-discrimination law.’
The US Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights said in a letter sent later on Friday to the commissioner of the state Department of Education that it was launching an investigation amid ‘allegations that it continues to allow male athletes to compete in girls´ interscholastic athletics,’ which it called a violation of federal anti-discrimination law.
The US Department of Education’s statement said state laws do not override federal anti-discrimination laws.
The back-and-forth came in the middle of the president’s remarks welcoming the nation’s governors to the White House
If the state wants to continue to receive federal funds from the education department, it must follow Title IX to continue receiving federal funds, said Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights with the education department, in a statement.
‘If it wants to forgo federal funds and continue to trample the rights of its young female athletes, that, too, is its choice,’ he said in the statement.
Mills called it a ‘politically directed move’ to strip funding ‘paid for by Maine taxpayers.’
‘I imagine that the outcome of this politically directed investigation is all but predetermined,’ she said in a statement.
She added: ‘But do not be misled: this is not just about who can compete on the athletic field, this is about whether a President can force compliance with his will, without regard for the rule of law that governs our nation. I believe he cannot.’
‘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 before the confrontation with Trump.
Republicans hammered Democrats on transgender issues especially when it came to youth and sports ahead of the 2024 election, capitalizing on a broader culture war over LGBTQ rights.
Since his return to power, Trump has demonized any recognition of gender diversity, attacking transgender people – a small minority of the population – and gender-affirming care for minors in both his rhetoric and in executive orders.
Out of 510,000 athletes competing at the collegiate level, there are fewer than 10 who publicly identify as transgender, NCAA President Charlie Baker said in January.
Transgender people make up less than 1 percent of adults in the United States, according to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, which studies LGBTQ issues.
Trump has said he will also push the International Olympic Committee to change its rules on transgender athletes before the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
