President Donald Trump is demanding an apology from Maine Gov. Janet Mills after the University of Maine System (UMaine) acceded to Trump’s demands to bar biological males from competing in female sports.
The president has feuded with Maine’s Democratic governor for weeks over whether trans-identifying students should be allowed to compete against women and girls in female sports leagues. The president has threatened to withhold federal funding from the state until it agrees to protect the integrity of female sports.
UMaine, which includes eight public universities across the state, backed down this week and agreed to reform its rules on trans-identifying players competing against female athletes. Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Saturday that Mills should apologize for attempting to fight the federal government over the issue.
“While the State of Maine has apologized for their Governor’s strong, but totally incorrect, statement about men playing in women’s sports while at the White House House Governor’s Conference, we have not heard from the Governor herself, and she is the one that matters in such cases,” Trump wrote. “Therefore, we need a full throated apology from the Governor herself, and a statement that she will never make such an unlawful challenge to the Federal Government again, before this case can be settled.”
“I’m sure she will be able to do that quite easily. Thank you for your attention to this matter and, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” the president added.
Under pressure from the Trump administration that the university system was in violation of Title IX, UMaine agreed to “protect equal opportunities for women and girls to compete in safe and fair sports,” the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in a statement this week. The department had paused funding going to UMaine amid the row over female sports.
University of Maine System Chancellor Dannel Malloy expressed relief over the fight with the administration being resolved.
“The University of Maine System has always maintained its compliance with state and federal laws and with NCAA rules, which the U.S. The Department of Agriculture also affirmed in a press release today,” Malloy said.
“We are relieved to put the Department’s Title IX compliance review behind us so the land-grant University of Maine and our statewide partners can continue to leverage USDA and other essential federal funds to strengthen and grow our natural resource economy and dependent rural communities through world-class education, research, and extension,” he added.
