According to a report by RedState’s Sister Toldjah, Mills showed a strong stance when Trump directly addressed her during a meeting of the National Governors Association held at the White House.
Trump inquired, “Is Maine here? The governor of Maine?” as he spotted Mills among the attendees at a table in the State Dining Room of the White House. He followed up with a pointed question, “Are you not going to comply with it?”
Mills replied, “I’m going to comply with state and federal law.”
“We are the federal law,” Trump responded. “You better do it because you’re not going to get any federal funding at all if you don’t.”
The consequences became apparent to Mills on the following Monday when the U.S. Department of Agriculture decided to halt funding to the University of Maine System. School authorities confirmed this sudden freeze in financial support.
From UMaine:
An email forwarded to the University of Maine that appears to have originated from the USDA’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer directs the Department’s “awarding agencies and staff offices to temporarily no longer issue any payments or authorize any other… pic.twitter.com/zHJSMRyA6B
— The Maine Wire (@TheMaineWire) March 11, 2025
The university’s quest to ensure that men can unfairly (and dangerously) continue to compete in women’s athletics might turn out to be very costly:
Officials say that in an email received Monday, the USDA’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer indicated that the department is evaluating further action against the university for possible violations of Title VI and Title IX.
As a land-grant institution, the University of Maine received almost $30 million last year in USDA funding, primarily used for research.
School officials say the email directs the department’s awarding agencies to temporarily stop issuing payments to both Columbia University and the University of Maine System.
🚨BREAKING: The Trump administration has paused federal funding to Maine Universities for failing to ban men in women’s sports in defiance of the president’s executive orders.
Good! pic.twitter.com/JA0beg4g6K
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) March 12, 2025