Former U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order prohibiting transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports.
Under the directive, signed on Wednesday, educational institutions that permit trans girls and women to participate in female sports or access female locker rooms will face a loss of federal funding.
The order further instructs government agencies to advocate for sex-based female sports categories in international organizations and to convene key athletic organizations and governing bodies to establish “policies that are fair and safe, in the best interests of female athletes.”
“We are putting every school receiving taxpayer dollars on notice: If you let men take over women’s sports teams or invade your locker rooms, you will be investigated for violations of Title IX and risk your federal funding,” Trump stated, referencing the 1972 law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in education.
Declaring an end to “the war on women’s sport,” Trump asserted that his administration would not “stand by and watch men beat and batter female athletes.”
“We’re just not going to let it happen, and it’s going to end, and it’s ending right now and nobody is going to be able to do a damn thing about it because when I speak, we speak with authority.”
Additionally, Trump announced his intention to pressure the International Olympic Committee— which has delegated decisions on transgender participation in sports to international governing bodies— to officially endorse sex-based competition guidelines ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
“We want them to change everything having to do with the Olympics and having to do with this absolutely ridiculous subject,” the U.S. president said.
