Trump, Maine's Democratic governor clash at White House over transgender athletes

By Nandita Bose and Doina Chiacu

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump clashed with the Democratic governor of Maine, Janet Mills, on Friday over federal funds he threatened to withhold from the state over transgender athletes participating in girls and women's sports.

Trump was addressing Democratic and Republican governors in the State Dining Room at the White House on Friday when he mentioned his recent executive order banning trans athletes from playing women's sports. He then called on Maine's governor and asked her if the state will comply, prompting Mills to object.

"You better do it because you're not going to get federal funding," Trump told Mills.

The governor then confronted Trump and said, "We're going to follow the law, sir. We'll see you in court."

Trump shot back with, "Enjoy your life after governor because I don't think you'll be an elected official afterwards."

Trump frequently railed against transgender athletes while on the campaign trail. His recently signed executive order has been praised by supporters saying it will restore fairness, but critics say the directive infringes on the rights of a tiny minority of athletes.

Out of 510,000 athletes competing at the collegiate level, there are fewer than 10 who publicly identify as transgender, NCAA President Charlie Baker said in January.

Trump is relying on the federal Education Department to achieve the directive's goal through a revised interpretation of federal civil rights laws. Schools that do not follow these laws can lose federal funding.

The Maine Principal’s Association said two weeks ago it would continue to allow transgender girl and women athletes to compete despite Trump's order.

Shortly after Friday's confrontation, the Education Department said in a press release its civil rights office is launching an investigation of the Maine Department of Education over potential violations of Title IX, which protects against sex discrimination in education.

The investigation will examine allegations the Maine DOE "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 department said it's also investigating Maine School Administrative District #51, after reports that a school under its jurisdiction is allowing "at least one male student to compete in girls’ categories."

Friday's exchange was not the first time Trump attacked Maine over the issue. He threatened to withhold federal money from the state if it did not comply with his order during separate remarks at a Republican Governors Association meeting on Thursday.

Mills responded to the White House exchange in a statement on Friday saying her state "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," the statement said.

More than two dozen states already bar transgender athletes from participating in school sports, whether in K-12 schools or at the collegiate level.

In January, days before Trump's inauguration, the House passed a bill to bar transgender women and girls from sports programs for female students nationwide. The bill faces uncertain prospects in the Senate.Transgender people make up less than 1 percent of adults in the United States, according to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, which studies LGBTQ issues.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose and Doina Chiacu; Additional reporting by Nate Raymond and Ryan Patrick Jones; Editing by Diane Craft; Alistair Bell and Bill Berkrot)