‘We are the federal law’: Trump threatens to strip state funding if governors don’t comply to his word
President Trump was challenged right to his face at the White House Friday afternoon, and he didn’t seem to like it very much, especially because the challenger happened to be a woman – the Governor of Maine, to be exact. Gov. Janet Mills.
In a clip that’s quickly gone viral, Trump stood at a lectern and talked about banning trans women from men’s sports. “The NCAA has complied immediately by the way,” he said. “That’s good, but I understand Maine…” he pauses for a beat. “Is Maine here? The Governor of Maine?”
“Damn right I am,” she said. Either he didn’t quite catch it or pretended not to, but she sounded fiery. Trump looked confused for a second. “Huh?” He said. “Yeah, I’m here,” she replied.
This is the first governor we’ve seen go head-to-head with Trump like this in his new term. Sure, he’s gotten pushback recently. Like when Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said “We don’t have kings in America” and that he would never “bend the knee to one.”
At the White House, it felt like Mills would never bend the knee either, and in this exchange she proved she was willing to go in quite the opposite direction.
“Are you not gonna comply with it?” He asked. “I’m complying with state and federal laws,” she shot back. “Well, I’m.. we are the federal law,” he responded.
She answers but you can’t hear what she’s saying because Trump talks right over her: “Well you better do it. You better do it. Because you’re not going to get any federal funding at all if you don’t.”
He then went after the state itself, telling her that even though Maine’s population is somewhat liberal, he still did “very well there.”
“Your population doesn’t want men playing in women’s sports,” he said. He repeats how she “better comply” and starts to talk about how every state should but she curtly answers, “see you in court.”
“Good,” he said back. “I look forward to that. That should be a real easy one. And enjoy your life after Governor. I don’t think you’ll be in elected politics.”
This exchange, and the speech from Gov. Pritzker, are pretty much all the pushback from the Democrats we’ve really seen break through all the noise. The contention continued with Maine and the Trump administration later in the day as well. Per The New York Times, the U.S. Department of Education sent a letter to Pender Makin, the state’s education commissioner.
The letter said there was going to be a direct investigation of Maine’s department of education over one school in particular that had allowed “at least one male student to complete in girls’ categories.” Hmm. Wonder if that’s related to Gov. Mills standing up to the president in front of all the other governors like that.
Josh Green, the governor of Hawaii, said that some of the other governors were “a little bit distressed” by the exchange between Trump and governor Mills. “It was unnecessary conflict,” he said, adding that Mills “stood firm against” Trump, even if it was just for a “moment.”
Mills’ defiant attitude didn’t come out of nowhere. Before the meeting even began, she released a statement saying that Maine will “not be intimidated” by Trump’s threats, and that her administration and the attorney general will take ” all appropriate and necessary legal action” to make sure Trump doesn’t “unilaterally deprive” school-aged kids from federal funding.
Also, the Maine Principals’ Association decided earlier this month it was going to continue to let trans female athletes compete, regardless of the federal issue.
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