President Donald Trump Saturday demanded a "full-throated apology" from Maine Gov. Janet Mills over her stance on transgender athletes and insisted that she must promise not to make another "unlawful challenge" to the government.
"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 said 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. I’m sure she will be able to do that quite easily," he added.
Trump's comment comes after the University of Maine said Friday that it now complies with NCAA rules and federal and state laws that were changed when Trump issued an executive order prohibiting transgender women and girls in female sports.
The Trump administration said that an investigation determined the university was in violation of Title IX rules banning sex-based discrimination in programs receiving federal funding, reports NBC News.
The Department of Agriculture had threatened to suspend federal funding to the university.
“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,” the Dannel Malloy, the system’s chancellor, said in a statement to NBC News.
UMS got almost $30 million in USDA funding during the 2024 fiscal year.
Last month, Trump and Mills sparred during the Governor's Conference over Maine and its state colleges and universities over the issue of barring transgender athletes from participating in girls' and women's sports.
When he told Mills her state's schools and universities had to comply or risk losing federal funding, she told him "We'll see you in court."
He told her the case "should be a real easy one" and to "enjoy your life after governor because I don't think you'll be in elected politics."
Mills, a Democrat, has not responded to Trump's latest salvo. However, she said, after an investigation was started into the state for allowing transgender athletes to participate, she said "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."
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it determined that Maine's educational authorities violated federal law prohibiting sex discrimination by allowing a transgender athlete to be included in women's sports.
The agency's Office for Civil Rights sent warning letters to the Maine Department of Education, the Maine Principals' Association, and Greely High School, stating that the case could be referred to the Department of Justice if the issue is not resolved by next week.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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