Trump Bans Transgender Athletes from Women's Sports

On Wednesday, former US President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at banning transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports. "From now on, women’s sports will be only for women," Trump declared before signing the order at the White House, surrounded by children and female athletes. “With this executive order, the war on women’s sports is over.”

Prominent Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, attended the ceremony. Trump vowed to protect women’s sports from what he called unfair competition, asserting, “We will not allow men to beat up, injure, and cheat our women and girls.”

The executive order gives US agencies the authority to withhold funding from schools allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s teams. "If you let men take over women’s sports teams or invade your locker rooms, you will be investigated and risk losing your federal funding,” Trump warned.

Trump also announced his intention to push the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to change its stance on transgender athletes before the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. He instructed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to demand that the IOC change its policies on the issue, calling the current situation "absolutely ridiculous." Additionally, Trump directed Homeland Security to block visa applications from men attempting to enter the US as women to compete in the Games.

Trump’s executive order is the latest in a series of measures targeting gender non-conforming individuals, marking the continuation of his controversial culture war agenda. Shortly after his second-term inauguration, Trump declared that government policy would recognize only two genders—male and female—and prohibited a third gender option in certain contexts. He also signed orders to eliminate “transgender ideology” from the military, banned transgender troops, and restricted gender transition procedures for individuals under 19.

Despite the small number of transgender people in the US population, Trump has made transgender rights a key issue in his campaign, often criticizing Democrats, particularly Vice President Kamala Harris, for their support of trans rights. His executive order follows the Republican-led House of Representatives’ January passage of a bill severely limiting transgender participation in girls' and women’s sports.

As transgender visibility has increased, questions of fairness and gender norms have become a flashpoint in American politics, with many conservatives rallying around the protection of women’s sports.