Maine Gov. Janet Mills beats Donald Trump, gets school meal funds restored while defending trans kids

The Trump administration has backed down after a federal court intervened in its attempt to cut off funding for Maine’s school meal programs—punishment for the state’s refusal to discriminate against transgender people by barring trans girls from participating in girls’ sports. Under a legal settlement announced Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture agreed to restore access to millions of dollars in nutrition funding and to stop using school meals as a weapon in President Donald Trump’s anti-trans agenda—at least for now.

The retreat follows a now-infamous confrontation between Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills and Trump at the White House in February. When Trump demanded she comply with his executive order banning transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports or lose all federal funding, Mills didn’t flinch.

“We’ll see you in court,” she said.

On Friday, standing before reporters, she delivered the follow-up: “Well, we did see him in court—and we won,” the Portland Press Heraldreports.

The victory for Maine is also a win for basic decency and due process. Trump’s USDA had frozen more than $3 million in funding for programs that feed over 170,000 children and vulnerable adults in the state, claiming Maine’s inclusive sports policy violated Title IX. But a federal judge ruled last month that the agency had likely failed to follow required legal procedures. Rather than risk a broader injunction, the USDA folded.

“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,” said Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey 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.”

The Trump administration is still pursuing a separate legal attack on Maine, suing the state over its policy and threatening to revoke $250 million in broader education funding through the Department of Education, The New York Timesreports. Civil rights advocates warn that the broader case is part of a calculated campaign to undermine protections for transgender students nationwide—and to use the machinery of government to intimidate states that refuse to fall in line.

Trump signed the misleadingly titled “No Men in Women’s Sports” executive order on February 5. It applies to all public schools, colleges, and even the U.S. Olympic Committee. It requires institutions to ban transgender girls and women from participating in female sports categories or lose federal funding. At its signing, Trump parroted debunked claims that thousands of victories had been “stolen” from cisgender athletes by trans competitors—statements not supported by any data.

The American Civil Liberties Union is tracking 575 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in state legislatures in 2025 across the United States. These proposals include restrictions on health care access, curriculum censorship, forced outing of LGBTQ students, barriers to accurate identification documents, and bans on participation in school sports and access to public accommodations.

In reality, NCAA president Charlie Baker recently testified that fewer than 10 transgender athletes compete among the 510,000 student-athletes in the NCAA.