USDA suspends Maine university funding after Trump row over transgender athletes
The Department of Agriculture has suspended funding at the University of Maine after President Trump clashed with Gov. Janet Mills over transgender athletic participation.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has suspended funding for research and programs at the University of Maine, the school said on Tuesday, after President Donald Trump clashed with Governor Janet Mills over the state’s refusal to ban transgender athletes from girls’ sports.
In an email received by the University of Maine, the USDA’s chief financial officer ordered all payments paused while the department “evaluates if it should take any follow-on actions” related to possible civil rights violations at the school.
The school said in a press release that it had received $30 million in USDA funding in fiscal year 2024. The USDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment late on Tuesday.
Trump, a Republican, and Mills, a Democrat, argued on Feb. 21 over the president’s executive order seeking to bar transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports.
“You better do it because you’re not going to get federal funding,” Trump warned Mills, as he addressed governors during a meeting at the State Dining Room in the White House.
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