WASHINGTON, DC – US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday barring transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports, escalating his administration’s push against transgender rights since returning to office.
“From now on, women’s sports will be only for women,” Trump declared before signing the order at the White House.
Surrounded by female athletes and children, he framed the move as a defense of fairness in women’s athletics, calling it an end to what he described as the “war on women’s sports.”
The order grants federal agencies the authority to withhold funding from schools that allow transgender women to participate in women’s sports teams.
“If you let men take over women’s sports teams or invade your locker rooms, you will be investigated… and risk your federal funding,” Trump warned.
“We’re putting every school receiving taxpayer dollars on notice that 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.” –President Donald J. Trump 🇺🇸
The move was met with enthusiastic support from top Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who attended the signing ceremony.
International Implications
Trump also announced plans to pressure the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to revise its policies on transgender athletes ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
He tasked Secretary of State Marco Rubio with urging the IOC to “change everything having to do with this absolutely ridiculous subject.”
Additionally, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was directed to deny visa applications from individuals Trump claimed were “men fraudulently identifying as women athletes” to compete in the Olympics.
The order is part of a broader series of actions targeting transgender and gender non-conforming individuals.
Within days of his second term beginning, Trump reinstated a policy recognizing only two genders in federal government records, banned transgender people from serving in the military, and imposed restrictions on gender-affirming healthcare for minors.
Throughout his 2024 campaign, Trump used transgender rights as a key attack point against Democratic opponent Kamala Harris, branding her as a champion of what he called radical gender ideology.
One of his most repeated slogans—”Kamala Harris is for they/them. President Trump is for you.”—became a rallying cry among his supporters.
The executive order comes just weeks after the Republican-led House of Representatives passed a bill restricting transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports.
While transgender individuals make up a small percentage of the U.S. population, their presence in sports has become a flashpoint in the ongoing political and cultural battle over gender identity and rights.
