Hours After Maine Gov. Defies Trump to His Face, Feds Hit Her with Investigation

A federal investigation has been launched into Maine’s decision to defy Title IX following Governor Janet Mills' declaration to President Donald Trump that the state would not adhere to his executive order on barring men from competing in women’s sports.

During a Friday meeting at the White House with governors, tensions rose between Trump and the Democratic governor, as seen in a video shared on X.

As Trump discussed his directive to prevent male athletes from participating in women’s school sports, he called out, “Is Maine here, the governor of Maine?”

Mills responded, prompting Trump to ask, “Are you not going to comply with it?”

“We’ll comply with state and federal law,” Mills replied.

“Well, we are the federal law. You better do it because you’re not going to get any federal funding at all if you don’t,” Trump warned.

He went on to say, “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 you’d better comply because otherwise you’re not getting any federal funding.”

Mills responded defiantly, “We’ll see you in court.”

“Good! I’ll see you in court. I look forward to that. That should be a really easy one,” Trump shot back. “And enjoy your life after governor because I don’t think you’ll be in elected politics.”

Shortly after this exchange, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced that it was investigating the Maine Department of Education, as stated in a news release from the federal agency.

According to the release, the Office for Civil Rights had received allegations that Maine “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 agency pointed specifically to Greely High School, stating that the school “is continuing to allow at least one male student to compete in girls’ categories.”

Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, weighed in on the matter, stating, “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.”

He continued, “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.”

Trainor emphasized that the Office for Civil Rights “will do everything in its power to ensure taxpayers are not funding blatant civil rights violators,” making it clear that Trump’s executive order includes a penalty for noncompliance.

“State laws do not override federal antidiscrimination laws, and the MDOE and its schools remain subject to Title IX and its implementing regulations,” the release reaffirmed.

On Thursday, Trump reiterated his stance, stating he would not waver on the issue.

“They are still saying, ‘We want men to play in women’s sports,’ and I cannot believe that they’re doing that,” Trump said, as reported by Fox News.

“So, we’re not going to give them any federal funding, none whatsoever, until they clean that up,” he declared.