President Donald Trump issued a vow to defund California schools that continue to promote transgender ideology against the administration's directives.
"Any California school district that doesn't adhere to our transgender policies, will not be funded," Trump vowed Thursday morning in a Truth Social post. "Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
It was the second of a pair of Trump posts taking aim at California, the first attacking California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom.
"Gavin Newscum is way down in the polls," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "He is viewed as the man who is destroying the once Great State of California. I will save California!!! President DJT"
On Trump's first day in office he issued an executive order targeting gender ideology titled "Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism And Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government."
"Agencies shall take all necessary steps, as permitted by law, to end the federal funding of gender ideology," Trump's order read.
"Federal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology. Each agency shall assess grant conditions and grantee preferences and ensure grant funds do not promote gender ideology."
In February, Trump signed a directive to strip federal funding from any school that allows transgender women or girls to compete in female sports.
Representatives for the White House and the U.S. Department of Education did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for detail following Trump's defunding vow.
U.S. schools receive the vast majority of their funding through local and state sources, but do receive some money from the federal government.
Trump's post is the latest salvo in his fight against transgender rights as well as the state of California and Newsom.
His administration sued California in July over its policy to allow transgender athletes to compete in girls' school sports, alleging it was a violation of federal anti-discrimination laws.
The focus schools place on transgender ideology concerns an issue affecting fewer than 1% of the U.S. population. A study found there are just 2.8 million people in the U.S. that identify as transgender among the estimated 340.1 million in the U.S. (0.82% of the total population).
Representatives for Newsom's office could not be immediately reached by Reuters for comment.
Information from Reuters was used to compile this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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