Trump signs order banning transgender athletes from women’s sports

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports.

The order, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” was signed on Wednesday during a ceremony where Trump was surrounded by young female athletes. It outlines enforcement actions and mandates prohibiting transgender individuals from competing in women’s sports.

“In recent years, many educational institutions and athletic associations have allowed men to compete in women’s sports,” the order states. “This is demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls, and denies them the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports.”

“Therefore, it is the policy of the United States to rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities, which results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy,” it added. “It shall also be the policy of the United States to oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports more broadly, as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.”

During the first days of Trump’s administration, an order was issued promoting the concept of “sex-based rights,” requiring federal agencies to recognize only two traditional genders, determined by biological sex assigned at conception.

The new order directs the Secretary of Education to “take all appropriate action to affirmatively protect all-female athletic opportunities and all-female locker rooms” and to clarify that “women’s sports are reserved for women.”

The Secretary of Education is also tasked with prioritizing enforcement actions against educational institutions, including athletic associations, that require women “to compete with or against, or to appear unclothed before, males.”

Additionally, federal agencies will have the authority to revoke funding from programs that fail to comply with the order. The Secretary of State will also be able to withdraw support for and participation in sports exchanges or programs where categories are “based on gender identity rather than biological sex.”

The order further mandates the Domestic Policy Council to meet with representatives of major U.S. athletic organizations and governing bodies to promote similar policies. The Secretary of State is instructed to advocate for these policies at the international level, including within the United Nations and international governing bodies such as the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

“Under the Trump administration, we will defend the proud tradition of female athletes, and we will not allow men to beat up, injure, and cheat our women and our girls,” Trump said during the ceremony.

Trump also claimed during the ceremony that Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who faced backlash over her sex and gender during the 2024 Paris Olympics, “was a male,” despite the athlete being assigned female at birth, according to ABC News, citing the IOC.