Original article by Jessica Corbett republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

The president threatened to cut off federal funding to the state for respecting the identities of trans student-athletes.

Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills stood up to U.S. President Donald Trump at a Friday event in Washington, D.C. after the Republican threatened to cut off federal funding because the state allows transgender youth to participate in sports in line with their identities.

While at the podium, Trump asked if Maine’s governor was at the event. After Mills confirmed her presence, he asked if she will comply with his executive order intended to use his administration’s interpretation of Title IX—a federal law barring discrimination on the basis of sex at educational institutions that get federal funds—to block trans girls and women from competing as female athletes.

“You better do it, because you’re not gonna get any federal funding at all if you don’t,” Trump said to Mills—who replied that she would follow state and federal laws. She also told the president, “See you in court.”

Mills also released a statement vowing that “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 state of Maine will not be intimidated by the president’s threats.”

Maine Morning Star reported Friday that the state’s attorney general, Aaron Frey, said in a statement that any attempt by Trump to cut federal funding over the issue “would be illegal and in direct violation of federal court orders.”

“Fortunately,” he said, “the rule of law still applies in this country, and I will do everything in my power to defend Maine’s laws and block efforts by the president to bully and threaten us.”

“It is disturbing that President Trump would use children as pawns in advancing his political agenda,” added Frey, who earlier this month joined other Democratic attorneys general in vowing to protect access to gender-affirming healthcare, another GOP target.

While the National Collegiate Athletic Association swiftly updated its policies to align with Trump’s order, the Maine Principals’ Association—which governs athletics for all public high schools and multiple private institutions in the state—confirmed earlier this month that it will continue allowing trans athletes to compete in girls’ sports. Mike Burnham, executive director of MPA’s Interscholastic Division, cited a 2021 update to state law.

As the Bangor Daily Newsdetailed Friday:

Between 2013 and 2021, the association allowed kids to compete in a manner consistent with their gender identity as long as there were no safety concerns. An MPA committee assessed cases one by one, and there were 54 such cases during that period. Only four involved transgender girls.

In 2021, the Democratic-led Legislature added education-related protections for gender identity to [the] Maine Human Rights Act. Since then, the MPA has allowed students to compete with those of their identified gender.

The Friday exchange between Mills and Trump—whose administration is engaged in a sweeping effort to erase trans people—came after the result of a recent pole vaulting state championship for high schoolers and one Republican lawmaker’s Facebook post about it garnered national media attention.

State Rep. Laurel Libby (R-90) on Monday posted a pair of photos identifying one Greely High School pole vaulter as trans and put the teenager’s preferred name in quotation marks. She later toldMaine’s Total Coverage, “I think we have a responsibility to protect girls’ sports, to protect Maine girls, and to ensure that they have a level playing field.”

The outlet noted that state House Minority Leader Katrina Smith (R-62) “shared on her Instagram the names and email addresses of the Maine Department of Education commissioner, the state attorney general, and the executive director of the Maine Principals’ Association telling constituents to call on them to follow President Trump’s executive order.”

Libby—who on Friday made several more Facebook posts highlighting Trump’s threat to Mills and thanking the president—has faced strong backlash from Democratic lawmakers and various other critics for her initial post bullying the teenage athlete.

“We have been reminded this week of the importance of respecting the privacy of Maine kids, and the value in treating people of all ages with kindness and decency,” Rep. Ryan Fecteau (D-103), the first openly gay speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, wrote in a Friday opinion piece for the Bangor Daily News.

“To young people who are members of the LGBTQ+ community, know that I see you and I stand with you,” he said. “After the events of this week, I ask all my legislative colleagues to recommit to keeping kids out of the political fray. They deserve better. There is a time and place for policy debates. That time and place will never be a social media post attacking a student. Full stop.”

Later on Friday, the Trump administration sent a letter to Maine Department of Education Commissioner Pender Makin announcing a federal investigation into the state agency and Maine School Administrative District #51, which includes Greely High School.

“Let me be clear: If Maine wants to continue to receive federal funds from the Education Department, it has to follow Title IX,” said Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the federal level. “If it wants to forgo federal funds and continue to trample the rights of its young female athletes, that, too, is its choice.”

Responding in a lengthy statement, Mills said that “no president—Republican or Democrat—can withhold federal funding authorized and appropriated by Congress and paid for by Maine taxpayers in an attempt to coerce someone into compliance with his will. It is a violation of our Constitution and of our laws, which I took an oath to uphold.”

“Maine may one of the first states to undergo an investigation by his administration, but we won’t be the last,” warned Mills, a former district attorney and state attorney general. “Today, the president of the United States has targeted one particular group on one particular issue which Maine law has addressed. But you must ask yourself: Who and what will he target next, and what will he do? Will it be you? Will it be because of your race or your religion? Will it be because you look different or think differently? Where does it end? In America, the president is neither a king nor a dictator, as much as this one tries to act like it—and it is the rule of law that prevents him from being so.”

“I imagine that the outcome of this politically directed investigation is all but predetermined,” she added, again pledging to fight Trump in court. “But do not be misled: 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. I believe he cannot.”

This post has been updated to include the Trump administration’s letter to the Maine Department of Education and the governor’s response.

Original article by Jessica Corbett republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).