President Trump on Saturday pressed Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) to issue a personal apology after the two didn’t see eye-to-eye earlier this month on a policy regarding transgender athletes in the Polar Star State.
“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 Governor’s Conference, we have not heard from the Governor herself, and she is the one that matters in such cases,” he wrote early Saturday on Truth Social.
“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,” he continued. “I’m sure she will be able to do that quite easily.”
Trump earlier this month signed an executive order that seeks to bar transgender athletes from competing in sports. The Education Department earlier this year also rescinded protections against discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation — stipulations that were added last year under former President Biden.
During an event at the White House last month, Trump and Mills quarreled after the president suggested to a group of GOP governors that he would withhold federal funding from Maine over its refusal to comply with the order on transgender athletes. When prompted, the Democratic governor said Maine was following federal law, telling the president, “See you in court.”
Trump, in a February speech before the Conservative Political Action Committee, doubled down on his criticism of the governor and state’s transgender policies.
“She’s fighting to keep men in women’s sports. You ever see what happens to a woman when a woman boxes a man who transitioned to womanhood? You ever see what happens?” the president said at the time. “It’s not pretty.”
His most recent comments come just days after the Trump administration ruled Maine had violated the updated Title IX law. The state was given until March 27 to reverse its policy allowing transgender student athletes to participate in girls’ and women’s sports, or face action from the Justice Department.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) also temporarily paused funding to the University of Maine System (UMS) earlier this month after the spat. Funds have since resumed after a USDA review found UMS to be in compliance with Title IX.
“Any false claim by the UMaine can, and will, result in onerous and even potentially criminal financial liability,” the administration wrote in a press release. “UMaine’s decision to side with sanity is a win for women and girls in Maine.”
“The choice for the rest of Maine is simple: protect equal opportunities for women, as required by law, or lose funding,” the USDA statement reads.
The university was just one of several institutions targeted by the Education Department’s compliance review, including the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association.
