Maine Democratic Gov. Janet Mills’ public dust-up with President Donald Trump during a White House meeting with most of America's state leaders didn’t live up to governors’ collective goal of "disagree[ing] better," the National Governors Association chairman said Saturday.
Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis was asked about the exchange – in which Trump challenged Maine to comply with his executive order on transgender athletes in school sports, and Mills told Trump "see you in court." The president remarked that any state that does not align its scholastic athletics with biological sexes will not receive federal funding.
"As governors, we have our prior initiative that we continue to work on is to disagree better," Chairman Polis said.
"We always hope that people can disagree in a way that elevates the discourse and tries to come to a common solution around . . . what the issue is. I don't think that that disagreement is necessarily a model of that," he continued, adding that some governors may not have known the origins of the fiery exchange at the time.
Polis said governors do have the right to sue the federal government but that there are also other ways to understand where respective parties are coming from.
"It was a little uncomfortable in the room," added NGA Vice Chairman Kevin Stitt, Oklahoma’s GOP governor.
"But like, like Governor Polis said, I wasn't sure exactly what the backstory was behind the conflict there. Apparently, there had been some things that both sides have said."
Stitt remarked that the exchange may have been "good politics" for both Mills and Trump with their respective bases.
He added that he personally agrees with Trump’s stance and noted that he led a push in 2022 to ensure that scholastic athletes are competing against people of their own biological sex in Oklahoma.
"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 we'll see what happens on it."
Polis added that Mills maintained that she is following current federal law under her current stance.
Later, Stitt said that Trump had invited all governors to give him a call, and had quipped that if a Democrat and a Republican call at the same time, he will take the Democrat’s call first.
"He is a businessman. He is not ideological. He wants to get things done," Stitt said.
At the White House meeting, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey successfully asked cabinet officials to share their direct lines, to better facilitate cooperation between states and the Trump administration.
That nugget was revealed by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, who quipped that ther president had also offered governors an open line – but did not explicitly publicize his number.
"I’ve got it, but I’m going to hold onto it," McMaster joked.
Maine Governor Janet Mills released a statement on Friday in response to the announcement that the U.S. Department of Education will be investigating her state for allowing trans athletes to compete in girls' sports, defying a recent executive order by President Donald Trump.
In Mills' statement, she suggested that Trump's investigation into her state's potential Title IX violations is an indicator that the president will later target people based on their race or religion.
"Maine may [be] one of the first states to undergo an investigation by his administration, but we won’t be the last. Today, the President of the United States has targeted one particular group on one particular issue which Maine law has addressed. But you must ask yourself: who and what will he target next, and what will he do? Will it be you? Will it be because of your race or your religion? Will it be because you look different or think differently? Where does it end? In America, the President is neither a King nor a dictator, as much as this one tries to act like it – and it is the rule of law that prevents him from being so," Mills said.
"I imagine that the outcome of this politically directed investigation is all but predetermined. My Administration will begin work with the Attorney General to defend the interests of Maine people in the court of law. 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."
Mills also insisted that Trump has no authority to withhold federal funding from her state for refusing to comply with his recent executive order to ban trans athletes from girls' and women's sports, which the president vowed to do in a speech on Thursday.
"No President – Republican or Democrat – can withhold Federal funding authorized and appropriated by Congress and paid for by Maine taxpayers in an attempt to coerce someone into compliance with his will. It is a violation of our Constitution and of our laws, which I took an oath to uphold," Mills said.
Maine is the fourth state to have a Title IX investigation launched against it for defying Trump's order since it was signed on Feb. 5. The DOE announced on Feb. 12 it would be investigating the high school athletic associations in California and Minnesota after those states refused to comply with Trump's recent order.
Before that, the DOE announced on Feb. 6 it would investigate the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) alongside San Jose State University and the University of Pennsylvania for potential Title IX violations.
Now, Maine joins that list after a confrontational two days between Trump and Mills.
It started on Thursday when Trump vowed to cut funding to the state for refusing to follow his order during a gathering of Republican governors in Washington.
"I hate to tell you this, but we're not going to give them any federal money, they are still saying ‘we want men to play in women’s sports' and I can not believe that they're doing that… So we’re not going to give them any federal funding, none whatsoever, until they clean that up."
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, Maine received more than $360 million, or about 10.1 percent of its education funding, from the federal government in the 2021-22 fiscal year.
On Friday, Mills' office responded with a statement threatening legal action against the Trump Administration if it did withhold federal funding from the state. Then, Trump and Mills verbally sparred in a widely-publicized argument at the White House during a bipartisan meeting of governors.
"Are you not going to comply with that?" Trump asked Mills.
"I'm complying with state and federal laws," she responded, before Trump said "Well, we are the federal law" and "you better do it, you better do it because you're not going to get any federal funding at all if you don't.
"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 because otherwise you're not getting any federal funding," Trump continued.
"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," Trump concluded.
The DOE investigation against Maine was announced just hours later.
Maine came under national scrutiny for allowing trans athletes in girls' sports amid the state's refusal to comply with Trump's order and a recent incident involving a trans pole vaulter.
During a state championship track and field meet, Katie Spencer, who previously competed as a male named John Rydzewski in pole-vaulting as recently as June 2024, out-jumped every other female by half a foot. Spencer's winning pole vault was pivotal in helping Spencer's track and field team at Greely High School in Cumberland, Maine, win the Class B state championship meet by just a single point.
Due to the win, Spencer has now automatically qualified for the multistate regional championships, taking the spot that would have been awarded to the female athlete who garnered second place had Spencer competed in the boys' division.
A female high school track and field athlete praised Trump for intervening in the situation on Friday.
Zoe, who competed in shot put at Maine's Class B state indoor championship meet on Monday, said she is "grateful" for the president's announcement that he will be cutting federal funding to Maine over its defiance of Trump's order to keep men out of women's sports, adding that leaders in the state "have failed our female athletes."
"State leaders have failed our female athletes and there needs to be repercussions for their neglect," Zoe said. "We feel seen and heard because of this announcement and hope that steps will continue to be made to protect women's sports in Maine."
In a statement to Fox News Digital, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, "Partisan elected officials and judicial activists who seek to legally obstruct President Trump’s agenda are defying the will of 77 million Americans who overwhelmingly re-elected President Trump," and added that "their efforts will fail."
"All of President Trump’s executive actions are lawful, constitutional and intended to deliver on the promises he made to the American people," Leavitt said. "The Trump Administration is prepared to fight these battles in court and will prevail."
Fox News Digital's Alex Schemel contributed to this report.
A high school female track and field athlete is praising President Donald Trump for doing what she said state lawmakers won't: protect women from biological males competing against them in sports.
Zoe, who competed in shot put at Maine's Class B state indoor championship meet on Monday, said she is "grateful" for the president's announcement that he will be cutting federal funding to Maine over its defiance of Trump's order to keep men out of women's sports, adding that leaders in the state "have failed our female athletes."
"State leaders have failed our female athletes and there needs to be repercussions for their neglect," Zoe said. "We feel seen and heard because of this announcement and hope that steps will continue to be made to protect women's sports in Maine."
During the state championship meet, Katie Spencer, who competed as a male named John Rydzewski in pole-vaulting as recently as June 2024, out-jumped every other female by half a foot. Spencer's winning pole vault was pivotal in helping Spencer's track and field team at Greely High School in Cumberland, Maine, win the Class B state championship meet by just a single point.
Republican Maine state Rep. Laurel Libby began sounding the alarm after Spencer won the women's pole-vaulting state championship on Monday.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, she reiterated Zoe's concern that without some sort of federal intervention nothing was going to change.
Several years ago, the state amended its state Human Rights Act to include protections for gender-identity, and since Democrats control both chambers of the legislature and the governor's office, Libby said there is "a 0% chance" they will repeal it.
Following Trump's Feb. 5 executive order threatening to end public funding to schools that do not keep men out of women's sports, the Maine Principals' Association, the primary governing body for high school athletics in the state, said that the president's order conflicts with state law aimed at protecting human rights. As a result, the association said it will defer to the latter when it comes to determining athletic eligibility.
Sarah Perry, a civil rights attorney who has extensive experience litigating Title IX issues, said that in addition to Trump's executive order, the association is also flouting directives from the Department of Education and previously established precedent from a slew of cases that challenged former President Joe Biden's Title IX regulations allowing athletic eligibility to be determined by one's preferred gender identity. Perry noted that besides the obvious risk of losing funding, these states also open themselves up to federal Title IX investigations, something she said could potentially force them to comply with Trump's demands.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Maine Principals' Association for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
"It is absolutely reprehensible that people in a position of power would allow this against children who are trying to compete," Libby said. "There will not be enforcement from the state level, that is absolutely clear. So the only mechanism of enforcement that we have is for the administration to intervene."
Libby noted that after posting about Spencer's state championship title on social media, a young female competitor at the meet commented that she and her teammates did not even know they would be competing against a biological male until they arrived at the state championship meet on Monday. "It was so disheartening to find out, because, you immediately know the result," Libby told Fox News Digital.
Libby also pointed out that it was illustrative of a larger problem in Maine when it comes to protecting women's rights in athletics.
"This is not a first-time scenario here," she said. "There is another boy who has been running girls' cross-country for several fall seasons now. He was a mediocre athlete as a boy, but as a girl he is doing extremely well. This is increasing in Maine. And unless something is done at the federal level, I think we're just going to see more and more of it."
Due to the win, Spencer has now automatically qualified for the multistate regional championships, taking the spot that would have been awarded to the female athlete who garnered second place had Spencer competed in the boys' division.
Trump on Thursday said that Maine will not receive federal funding until it complies with his executive order requiring schools and athletic associations to ensure biological males do not compete on women's sports teams.
"I heard men are still playing in Maine," the president said Friday during a speech at the annual National Governors Association conference in Washington, D.C. "I hate to tell you this, but we're not going to give any federal money. They are still saying, ‘We want men to play in women’s sports,' and I cannot believe they are doing that… so we're not going to give them any federal funding, none whatsoever, until they clean that up."
Trump met with governors at the White House on Friday, including Maine's Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, amid the conference taking place in the nation's capital. For a brief moment, Trump and Mills got into a verbal skirmish over his move to slash the state's federal funding due to its defiance against Trump's executive order barring men from competing in women's sports.
"You better do it because you're not going to get federal funding," Trump said to Mills, to which she responded: "We're going to follow the law, sir. We'll see you in court."
"Enjoy your life after governor, because I don't think you'll be an elected official afterward," Trump shot back.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, "Partisan elected officials and judicial activists who seek to legally obstruct President Trump’s agenda are defying the will of 77 million Americans who overwhelmingly re-elected President Trump," and added that "their efforts will fail."
"All of President Trump’s executive actions are lawful, constitutional and intended to deliver on the promises he made to the American people," Leavitt said. "The Trump Administration is prepared to fight these battles in court and will prevail."
The United States Department of Education has launched Title IX investigations into Maine's DOE and a state school district for allegedly ignoring President Donald Trump's executive order on transgender athletes in girls' and women's sports.
Maine joins California and Minnesota as states to be investigated for allegedly continuing to allow biological males to compete against biological females.
"Today the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) sent a letter to the Maine Department of Education Commissioner Pender Makin announcing that OCR is initiating a directed investigation of the Maine Department of Education (MDOE) amid allegations that it 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 antidiscrimination law," the USDOE said in a press release Friday.
"The letter also notifies MDOE that OCR is launching an investigation into Maine School Administrative District #51 (MSAD #51), after it was reported that Greely High School, a school under its jurisdiction, is continuing to allow at least one male student to compete in girls’ categories."
Trump and Maine's governor, Janet Mills, clashed over transgender women in sports on Friday, with Trump telling her at the White House that she must follow his executive order, or "you're not going to get any federal funding," to which she replied, "We’ll see you in court."
"I'm complying with state and federal laws," Mills said, before Trump said, "Well, we are the federal law," and "you better do it, you better do it, because you're not going to get any federal funding at all if you don't.
Mills released a statement on Friday, saying, "The State of Maine will not be intimidated by the President's threats."
Trump vowed on Thursday to not give Maine any federal money if the state continues to allow biological males to compete in girls' and women's athletics.
"They are still saying, ‘We want men to play in women’s sports,' and I cannot believe that they're doing that. . . . So, we’re not going to give them any federal funding, none whatsoever, until they clean that up," Trump said.
Acting assistant secretary for civil rights Craig Trainor added as part of the DOE's announcement, "Maine would have you believe that it has no choice in how it treats women and girls in athletics - that is, that it must follow its state laws and allow male athletes to compete against women and girls. Let me be clear: If Maine wants to continue to receive federal funds from the Education Department, it has to follow Title IX. If it wants to forgo federal funds and continue to trample the rights of its young female athletes, that, too, is its choice. OCR will do everything in its power to ensure taxpayers are not funding blatant civil rights violators."
The USDOE is also investigating San Jose State, UPenn and a Massachusetts high school. Trans athletes Blaire Fleming and Lia Thomas starred for SJSU and the Ivy League school, respectively, with Thomas winning an NCAA Division I title in 2022.
Trump signed the "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order on Feb. 5.
Fox News' Greg Norman and Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump sparred with Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills over transgender women in sports, telling her at the White House that she must follow his executive order or "you're not going to get federal funding," to which she replied, "we’ll see you in court."
The blue state is one of several defying Trump’s Feb. 5 executive order preventing trans athletes from competing in girls' and women's sports. Trump threatened Thursday to cut off federal funding to Maine before clashing with Mills this afternoon at a bipartisan meeting of governors.
"You better do it because you're not going to get federal funding," Trump told her.
"We're going to follow the law sir. We'll see you in court," she responded.
"Enjoy your life after governor because I don't think you'll be an elected official afterwards," Trump then said.
Mills released a statement Friday saying that "The State of Maine will not be intimidated by the President's threats."
"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," she added.
Trump told a gathering of Republican governors in Washington on Thursday that "I heard men are still playing in Maine."
"I hate to tell you this, but we're not going to give them any federal money, they are still saying ‘we want men to play in women’s sports' and I cannot believe that they're doing that… So we’re not going to give them any federal funding, none whatsoever, until they clean that up," he also said.
Trump's executive order, which was signed on Feb. 5, instructed all federal agencies to review grants, programs and policies that fail to comply with the administration's efforts to end "male competitive participation in women’s sports… as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth."
The order also instructed strict Title IX enforcement against any educational institutions or athletic associations that do not comply and demands federal assistance be taken away in such cases.
Shortly after the order was signed, multiple states, including Maine, California, Minnesota and others run primarily by Democrats, indicated that they would not comply with Trump.
The executive director of the primary governing body for high school sports in the state of Maine said athletic teams will continue to determine eligibility based on a student's stated gender identity, despite the president's executive order seeking to keep "men out of women's sports."
Fox News’ Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that he will cut off federal funding to the state of Maine if it continues to defy his executive order preventing trans athletes from competing in girls' and women's sports.
"I heard men are still playing in Maine," Trump said to a gathering of Republican governors in Washington on Thursday.
"I hate to tell you this, but we're not going to give them any federal money, they are still saying ‘we want men to play in women’s sports' and I can not believe that they're doing that… So we’re not going to give them any federal funding, none whatsoever, until they clean that up."
Trump's executive order, which was signed on Feb. 5, instructed all federal agencies to review grants, programs and policies that fail to comply with the administration's efforts to end "male competitive participation in women’s sports… as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth."
The order also instructed strict Title IX enforcement against any educational institutions or athletic associations that do not comply and demands federal assistance be taken away in such cases.
"Many sport-specific governing bodies have no official position or requirements regarding trans-identifying athletes. Others allow men to compete in women’s categories if these men reduce the testosterone in their bodies below certain levels or provide documentation of ‘sincerely held’ gender identity," Trump's executive order states. "These policies are unfair to female athletes and do not protect female safety."
Shortly after the order was signed, multiple states, including Maine, California, Minnesota and others run primarily by Democrats, indicated that they would not comply with Trump.
The executive director of the primary governing body for high school sports in the state of Maine said athletic teams will continue to determine eligibility based on a student's stated gender identity, despite the president's executive order seeking to keep "men out of women's sports."
Mike Burnham, executive director of the Maine Principals' Association (MPA), said the president's order conflicted with state law aimed at protecting human rights and, as a result, the MPA will defer to the latter when it comes to determining athletic eligibility.
"The executive order and our Maine state Human Rights Act are in conflict, and the Maine Principal's Association (MPA) will continue to follow state law as it pertains to gender identity," Burnham told local news outlet Maine Public following Trump's Feb. 5 executive order.
In a previous statement to Fox News Digital, Burnham reiterated that MPA would be "instructing all schools in Maine to follow the Maine Human Rights Act," which he said was in accordance with a Jan. 21 notice from the Department of Education.
"The staff at the MPA will closely monitor any updates from federal and state authorities regarding the potential impact of the president's executive order on high school sports participation and adjust its policy accordingly."
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Education recently launched Title IX investigations into the Minnesota State High School League and the California Interscholastic Federation for refusing to comply with Trump on the issue.
"The Minnesota State High School League and the California Interscholastic Federation are free to engage in all the meaningless virtue-signaling that they want, but at the end of the day they must abide by federal law," said Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights.
"(The Office of Civil Rights') Chicago and San Francisco regional offices will conduct directed investigations into both organizations to ensure that female athletes in these states are treated with the dignity, respect and equality that the Trump administration demands. I would remind these organizations that history does not look kindly on entities and states that actively opposed the enforcement of federal civil rights laws that protect women and girls from discrimination and harassment."
The Education Department added that state laws do not override federal anti-discrimination laws, so the associations are subject to investigations.
However, some Democrat-run states have been quick to fall in line with Trump's order.
The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association on Wednesday announced an update to its policies that stated only athletes "designated as females at birth" would be allowed to compete in girls' sports, despite previously allowing trans athletes in girls' sports dating back to 2013.
Fox News Digital's Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.
