Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, made it clear Friday that she isn’t backing down from one of President Donald Trump’s latest attacks on transgender people.
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During a heated exchange at the National Governors Association meeting at the White House on Friday, Trump singled out Mills during a press event. With cameras rolling, he threatened to cut off federal funding to Maine unless the state complied with his sweeping executive order banning transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports.
“Is Maine here, the governor of Maine here,” Trump asked the assembled room of governors from both parties. “Are you not going to comply with it?
She responded, “I’m complying with state and federal laws.” To which Trump quipped, “Well—I’m— we are the federal law. You better do it. 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. So you better comply because otherwise, you’re not getting any federal funding.”
Related: Donald Trump bans transgender athletes from playing sports
Mills, serving her second and final term as governor, responded with a defiant challenge: “We’ll see you in court.”
Trump, never one to let a confrontation pass, shot back: “Good. I’ll see you in court. That should be a real easy one. And enjoy your life after governor, because I don’t think you’ll be in elected politics.”
Trump escalates his anti-trans agenda
The clash comes just weeks after Trump signed the “No Men in Women’s Sports” executive order, part of his administration’s broader rollback of LGBTQ+ rights. The order, signed on February 5, directs federal agencies, public schools, colleges, and even the U.S. Olympic Committee to ban transgender women and girls from competing in women’s sports. Trump said that schools and athletic organizations that refuse to comply will lose federal funding.
But Mills, whose state has strong anti-discrimination protections for transgender people, isn’t budging.
“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,” Mills said in a statement after the White House exchange. “The State of Maine will not be intimidated by the President’s threats.”
Related: NCAA caves and says it will obey Trump order banning trans athletes
Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey called Trump’s comments “disturbing,” warning that the president doesn’t have the authority to cut off education funding just because a state refuses to discriminate against transgender athletes, The Hill reports.
“Any attempt by the President to cut federal funding in Maine unless transgender athletes are restricted from playing sports would be illegal and in direct violation of court orders,” Frey said. “Fortunately, though, 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.”
The Advocate has reached out to Mills’ office for additional comment.
Inside the White House meeting
The White House press pool entered the State Dining Room at 11:00 a.m., where governors and administration officials mingled and took their seats, awaiting Trump’s arrival.
Notable Democratic governors in attendance included Maura Healey of Massachusetts, Tina Kotek of Oregon, and Jared Polis of Colorado, all members of the LGBTQ+ community, and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Maryland’s Wes Moore.
Among the Republican governors present were Brian Kemp of Georgia, Ron DeSantis ofFlorida, and Trump’s former press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the governor of Arkansas.
Administration officials and allies spotted at the event included Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“This is a nice friendly group,” Trump said after entering the room shortly before 11:30 a.m., before claiming he has the “highest poll numbers I’ve ever had.”
Related: Maine signs trans and abortion sanctuary bill into law, despite violent threats
He then opened the discussion with remarks on Ukraine and Russia.
Mills’ Rising Profile—and What’s Next
Mills’ public rebuke of Trump adds to her growing national profile. Since defeating far-right former Gov. Paul LePage in 2022, Mills has cemented herself as a staunch defender of LGBTQ+ rights. And while she hasn’t announced her plans for 2026, some political watchers are speculating that she could run for U.S. Senate against Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
A recent poll from Digital Research of Portland put Mills’ approval rating at 50 percent, making her one of Maine’s most popular politicians—just three points behind Sen. Angus King, who coasted to reelection last year, the Portland Press Heraldreports. Collins, meanwhile, hasn’t cracked 40 percent approval since 2020.
Friday’s moment with Trump could help solidify Mills as a Democratic powerhouse.
Democratic governors slam Trump’s ‘chaos and division’
The Democratic Governors Association released a statement on behalf of the Democrats in attendance, condemning Trump’s behavior at the meeting, saying that while governors had come to the White House hoping for a productive discussion on pressing issues, the president instead turned the event into a spectacle of political attacks and divisive rhetoric.
It said governors had arrived at the White House to discuss how to lower costs, improve disaster response, and deliver for their constituents but instead found the meeting quickly deteriorating into political theater.
“What started as a productive conversation with members of the cabinet quickly devolved into what the American people hate most about our politics when President Trump made clear that he had no intention of using our meeting to find common ground. Instead, he chose to point fingers at Democrats in the room, engage in ugly personal attacks and threats against our colleagues, and push unfounded conspiracy theories,” the governors said.
They added that while the moment calls for leadership and problem-solving, Trump instead chose “chaos and division” over solutions.
“We will continue working on the real issues that matter to families in our states and collaborating across the aisle with those of our colleagues who are also focused on that mission,” the statement said.
Trump’s false claims and the reality of trans athletes in sports
The executive order Trump is so eager to enforce is built on falsehoods.
At the signing ceremony earlier this month, Trump falsely claimed that transgender athletes had “stolen more than 3,500 victories” from cisgender women, parroting a baseless talking point from anti-trans activists. He lied about an Olympic gold medal being won by a transgender athlete in Paris during last year’s summer games, a reference to Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who was the target of far-right conspiracy theories but is not trans.
Trump’s administration has doubled down on these falsehoods. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt falsely said that the executive order would become federal law—a misrepresentation of how executive orders work.
The reality? Transgender athletes make up a minuscule fraction of competitive sports.
NCAA president Charlie Baker recently testified before Congress that fewer than 10 transgender athletes compete across all 510,000 student-athletes in the NCAA. And yet, Trump and his allies continue to push a narrative that weaponizes fear and misinformation to attack one of the most vulnerable communities in the country, advocates say.
The NCAA has said it intends to comply with Trump’s executive order.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional reporting.
