Because Maine has vowed to defy President Donald Trump’s executive order on protecting women’s sports, Trump has issued warnings to the state’s Democrat governor, Janet Mills. For instance, he said at a Republican Governors Association gathering Thursday that Maine’s federal education funding would be pulled if they didn’t comply.
Legal Insurrection reported on the tense exchange that happened Friday between Trump and Mills after he directly confronted her during his greeting to the National Governors Association (NGA) working session at the White House.
He confirmed Mills’ stance and then advised her what the consequences would be, which prompted their heated back and forth:
“Is Maine here? The governor of Maine?” Trump said, before locating Mills seated nearby at a table in the White House State Dining Room. “Are you not going to comply with it?”
Mills replied, “I’m going to comply with state and federal law.”
“We are the federal law,” Trump responded. “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.”
Mills then said, “We’re going to follow the law, sir. We’ll see you in court.”
Trump got the last word in the back and forth. “Enjoy your life after, governor, because I don’t think you’ll be an elected official afterwards.”
“Good, I’ll see you in court. I look forward to that,” he also remarked in response to her “see you in court” statement. “That should be a real easy one.”
In an update to this story, the United States Dept. of Agriculture announced Saturday that it was launching a “compliance review” of the University of Maine to determine if they’d committed any Title IX violations.
In her announcement, Agriculture Sec. Brooke Rollins explained why the USDA had taken the lead on the issue:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has initiated a compliance review of the University of Maine following the State of Maine’s blatant disregard for President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) 14201, Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.“President Trump has made it abundantly clear: taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars will not support institutions that discriminate against women,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins. “USDA is committed to upholding the President’s executive order, meaning any institution that chooses to disregard it can count on losing future funding.”As a federally funded land-grant institution, the University of Maine receives over $100 million in USDA funding. Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs and activities that receive federal funding. Compliance with federal law is mandatory for institutions to continue receiving taxpayer funded support, including USDA grants.
Here’s how the University of Maine System responded:
The University of Maine System appreciates the media making us aware of the USDA’s letter, which recognizes our flagship’s record of success in securing funding from that agency but notably makes no allegations of any wrongdoing. Maine’s public universities will continue to comply with all relevant State and Federal laws and cooperate with any compliance reviews to ensure postsecondary educational opportunities and high-impact research continue to benefit our students, the state and this nation.
Relatedly, it’s been interesting to see the Usual Suspects line up to claim Trump is “bullying” the newest Resistance member. But let’s remember that none of these people expressed any objections when then-President Joe Biden bullied red states and threatened to withhold federal education funding to any that didn’t comply with his dictatorial LGBTQ directives.
Democrats started this war and counted on Republicans all the way up to Trump to give in. They were mistaken.
-Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter/X.-
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