In February, Maine Governor Janet Mills told Trump that she would see him in court if his administration tried to freeze federal funds from the state for noncompliance with his executive order against trans athletes.
Trump froze the funds.
Mills and the state of Maine sued.
On Friday, Mills and the state of Maine won.
From The Associated Press:
President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday agreed to halt all efforts to freeze funds intended for a Maine child nutrition program after initially suspending those dollars due to a disagreement between the state and Trump over transgender athletes.
In response, the state will drop its lawsuit that had been filed against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey announced.
“It’s unfortunate that my office had to resort to federal court just to get USDA to comply with the law and its own regulations," Frey said in a statement.
"But we are pleased that the lawsuit has now been resolved and that Maine will continue to receive funds as directed by Congress to feed children and vulnerable adults.”
An email message seeking comment was sent Friday to the Agriculture Department.
In February during a meeting for the National Governors Association at the White House, Trump and Maine's governor, Janet Mills had a verbal altercation with regards to trans athletes.
During the 2024 election, Trump continuously decried the inclusion of trans athletes in women's sports. Since taking office, he has attempted to ban trans athletes from women's sports via an executive order. Many have pointed out that the executive order has no power, but Trump tied it to whether or not states will receive federal funding.
“The NCAA has complied immediately, by the way. That’s good. But I understand Maine – is Maine here? The governor of Maine?" Trump said.
“Yeah, I’m here,” responded Mills, a Democrat.
Asked by Trump if she would abide by the executive order, Mills responded, “I’m going to comply with state and federal law.”
“Well, we are the federal law,” the president retorted. “Well, you better do it. You better do it. Because you’re not gonna get any federal funding at all if you don’t.”
Trump then boasted about his performance in Maine in the 2024 election while serving a warning to Mills.
“And, by the way, you’re population – even though it’s somewhat liberal, although I did very well there – it doesn’t want men playing in women’s sports," he said. “So, you better comply because otherwise you’re not getting any federal funding.”
Mills shot back: “See you in court.”
Trump welcomed the opportunity.
“Good, I’ll see you in court. I look forward to that. That should be a real easy one,” the president said, before claiming Mills’ position on trans issues doesn’t bode well for her political future.
Federal funds to Maine which were to go to a child nutrition programs were subsequently frozen. Maine
subsequently sued.
. . . the state's attorneys argued that the child nutrition program received or was due to receive more than $1.8 million for the current fiscal year. Prior year funds that were awarded but are currently inaccessible total more than $900,000, the lawsuit states. The lawsuit also said that the program was anticipating about $3 million that is typically awarded every July for summer meal program sponsor administration and meal reimbursement.
Last month, a federal judge
handed Maine a temporary restraining order against the Trump Administration's actions:
A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze funds intended for a Maine child nutrition program that were suspended amid a disagreement between the state and the president over transgender athletes.
District Court Judge John Woodcock issued a temporary restraining order on Friday in a case brought by the state of Maine against the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
. . . The court’s order came the same day Maine officials said the state would not comply with a ban on transgender athletes in high school sports in the wake of a Trump administration finding that the state violated antidiscrimination laws by allowing the students to participate.
The U.S. Education Department said in March that an investigation concluded the Maine Department of Education violated the federal Title IX law by allowing transgender girls to participate on girls’ teams.
That decision is probably what led the Trump Administration to settle and allow Maine access to the federal funding.
Mills told The Associated Press in a statement:
“The state of Maine went to court and fought this unlawful attempt to freeze critical funding for our school lunch program – and we won. I applaud the work of Attorney General Frey and his staff in representing the state in this action against USDA, and preserving healthy school meals for 172,000 Maine school children.”
No doubt after the bravado he used to call out Mills in February, this has to be an embarrassing public loss to Trump and his administration. And we know how Trump hates being embarrassed, particularly in public.