‘I can not believe that they’re doing that,’ President Donald Trump says of Maine

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that he will cut off federal funding to the state of Maine if it continues to defy his executive order preventing trans athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports.

“I heard men are still playing in Maine,” Trump said to a gathering of Republican governors in Washington on Thursday.

“I hate to tell you this, but we’re not going to give them any federal money, they are still saying ‘we want men to play in women’s sports’ and I can not believe that they’re doing that… So we’re not going to give them any federal funding, none whatsoever, until they clean that up.”

Trump’s executive order, which was signed on Feb. 5, instructed all federal agencies to review grants, programs and policies that fail to comply with the administration’s efforts to end “male competitive participation in women’s sports… as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.”

The order also instructed strict Title IX enforcement against any educational institutions or athletic associations that do not comply and demands federal assistance be taken away in such cases.

The Maine State House is seen at dawn in Augusta, Maine, on Jan. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

“Many sport-specific governing bodies have no official position or requirements regarding trans-identifying athletes. Others allow men to compete in women’s categories if these men reduce the testosterone in their bodies below certain levels or provide documentation of ‘sincerely held’ gender identity,” Trump’s executive order states. “These policies are unfair to female athletes and do not protect female safety.”

Shortly after the order was signed, multiple states, including Maine, California, Minnesota and others run primarily by Democrats, indicated that they would not comply with Trump.

The executive director of the primary governing body for high school sports in the state of Maine said athletic teams will continue to determine eligibility based on a student’s stated gender identity, despite the president’s executive order seeking to keep “men out of women’s sports.”

Mike Burnham, executive director of the Maine Principals’ Association (MPA), said the president’s order conflicted with state law aimed at protecting human rights and, as a result, the MPA will defer to the latter when it comes to determining athletic eligibility.

“The executive order and our Maine state Human Rights Act are in conflict, and the Maine Principal’s Association (MPA) will continue to follow state law as it pertains to gender identity,” Burnham told local news outlet Maine Public following Trump’s Feb. 5 executive order.

In a previous statement to Fox News Digital, Burnham reiterated that MPA would be “instructing all schools in Maine to follow the Maine Human Rights Act,” which he said was in accordance with a Jan. 21 notice from the Department of Education.

“The staff at the MPA will closely monitor any updates from federal and state authorities regarding the potential impact of the president’s executive order on high school sports participation and adjust its policy accordingly.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Education recently launched Title IX investigations into the Minnesota State High School League and the California Interscholastic Federation for refusing to comply with Trump on the issue.

“The Minnesota State High School League and the California Interscholastic Federation are free to engage in all the meaningless virtue-signaling that they want, but at the end of the day they must abide by federal law,” said Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights.

“(The Office of Civil Rights’) Chicago and San Francisco regional offices will conduct directed investigations into both organizations to ensure that female athletes in these states are treated with the dignity, respect and equality that the Trump administration demands. I would remind these organizations that history does not look kindly on entities and states that actively opposed the enforcement of federal civil rights laws that protect women and girls from discrimination and harassment.”

President Donald Trump signed the executive order on Feb. 5. (Donald Trump 2024 campaign)

The Education Department added that state laws do not override federal anti-discrimination laws, so the associations are subject to investigations.

However, some Democrat-run states have been quick to fall in line with Trump’s order.

The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association on Wednesday announced an update to its policies that stated only athletes “designated as females at birth” would be allowed to compete in girls’ sports, despite previously allowing trans athletes in girls’ sports dating back to 2013.

Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.