Trump vs. Maine: Transgender Athletes, School Lunch, and Medicaid

The confrontation between Donald Trump and Maine is a running, multi-front legal and political fight that by late 2025 had the state involved in roughly 33 lawsuits against the federal government over an estimated $186 million in federal funding.¹ The flashpoint is a Title IX dispute over transgender athletes that has pulled in school lunch funding, Medicaid audits, offshore wind permits, tariffs on Canadian goods, voting procedures, and the 2026 U.S. Senate race. What began with a 2023 Maine ruling that briefly knocked Trump off the state’s primary ballot has turned, since his return to office, into one of the most sustained state-federal standoffs in the country.

The Transgender Athlete Fight

The central dispute began in February 2025, when Trump signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from women’s and girls’ sports and directing the federal government to pull funding from educational programs that do not comply.² The Maine Principals’ Association, which governs school sports in the state, said it would keep allowing transgender girls to compete, pointing to the Maine Human Rights Act.

At a White House governors’ meeting on February 21, 2025, Trump pressed Democratic Governor Janet Mills on whether Maine would comply. Mills said she would follow “state and federal law.” Trump answered: “Well, we are the federal law. You better do it, because you’re not going to get any federal funding at all if you don’t.” Mills replied, “See you in court.” Trump told her, “Good, I’ll see you in court. I look forward to that. That should be a real easy one. And enjoy your life after governor, because I don’t think you’ll be in elected politics.”²

In March 2025, Trump demanded on social media a “full throated apology” from Mills, including a promise she would “never make such an unlawful challenge to the Federal Government again.” No apology came. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights then concluded Maine’s education department was violating Title IX and gave the state ten days to agree to terms or face enforcement.³

In April 2025, the Department of Justice filed United States v. Maine Department of Education in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine, alleging the state’s policy violates Title IX. The DOJ argued “sex” under Title IX does not include gender identity.⁴ Reporting indicated the administration was pursuing more than $864 million in federal education dollars.⁵ Maine’s defense argues the complaint fails to state a claim and that the federal actions are barred by the Spending Clause, the Tenth Amendment, separation of powers, and the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses. Trial was scheduled for April 2026.⁶

Inside Maine, the Maine Human Rights Commission has sued six school districts that adopted their own transgender athlete bans in line with Trump’s order, arguing those districts are still bound by the Maine Human Rights Act. A ballot initiative is underway that could align state law with the federal position and may appear on the November 2026 ballot.⁶

The School Lunch Funding Freeze

The first concrete federal retaliation hit school meals. In April 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture froze Maine’s child nutrition funding, affecting a program that feeds roughly 172,000 children.⁷ Maine estimated more than $1.8 million for the current fiscal year, over $900,000 in previously awarded funds, and about $3 million in anticipated summer meal reimbursements were at stake.⁸ USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins told Mills in an April 2 letter the freeze was “only the beginning.”⁹

Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey sued. U.S. District Judge John Woodcock issued a 70-page order granting an emergency temporary restraining order, finding Maine demonstrated a “likelihood of success on the merits” because the administration had acted “without observance of procedure required by law.”¹⁰ On May 2, 2025, the USDA settled, agreeing to stop withholding Maine’s nutrition funding without first following required procedures. Maine dropped the suit.⁷ The broader Title IX case remains open.

Offshore Wind, Tariffs, Voting, and Other Fights

The sports dispute is the headline, but it sits inside a much wider list.

Offshore Wind

Trump’s moratorium on offshore wind leases and permitting stalled Maine energy projects. On April 11, 2025, the Department of Energy suspended a $12.5 million grant for the University of Maine’s VolturnUS floating offshore wind prototype, halting plans to outfit a 375-ton floating concrete hull with a turbine near Castine. DOE cited vague non-compliance without identifying specific violations.¹¹ Two other DOE grants to the university were suspended the same day, bringing frozen research funding to nearly $16 million.¹² Four potential commercial wind sites in the Gulf of Maine held by Avangrid and Invenergy were left in permitting limbo, and the developer of Pine Tree Offshore Wind, a planned 12-turbine, 144-megawatt floating array, suspended negotiations with state regulators, citing “uncertainty in the offshore wind industry.”¹³ A multistate suit challenging the wind blocks was filed in May 2025, and the relevant executive order was vacated by a court in December 2025.¹⁴

Canadian Tariffs

Trump’s proposed 25% tariff on Canadian imports hit Maine harder than most states. Canada is the state’s largest trading partner, accounting for $1.4 billion, or 48%, of Maine’s exports in 2023.¹⁵ The lobster industry was especially exposed because Maine lobstermen routinely send catches across the border for processing before the product is re-exported. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King both voted for resolutions to nullify the emergency declaration Trump used to justify the tariffs.¹⁶

Voting Rules

Maine joined multistate challenges to two Trump executive orders on elections. A March 2025 order required documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration, mandated rejection of mail ballots received after Election Day, and threatened federal funding for non-compliant states. A March 2026 order tried to restrict voting to people on federally authorized lists and limit mail-in ballots. In June 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts declared key provisions of each order unconstitutional and blocked their enforcement for the November 2026 election.¹⁷

Other Actions

Maine’s attorney general is also party to challenges over the end of birthright citizenship (before the Supreme Court), the Department of Government Efficiency’s access to Treasury data, SNAP recipient data privacy, cuts at the Department of Education, and the cancellation of a $9 million habitat restoration grant in Downeast Maine.¹⁴

The Medicaid Fraud Accusation

In his February 2026 State of the Union, Trump named Maine as part of a “war on fraud” to be led by Vice President JD Vance, alleging corruption in the state was “even worse” than in Minnesota.¹⁸ The accusation followed a January 2026 HHS Office of Inspector General audit finding Maine had made at least $45.6 million in improper Medicaid payments for rehabilitative and community support services for children with autism in 2023, with a federal share of $28.7 million.¹⁹

The audit identified documentation failures: missing comprehensive assessments, unsigned forms, inadequate session notes. A spokesperson for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services said the report “does not include findings or allegations of fraud” and does not question the necessity of the services provided.²⁰ Maine agreed to reimburse the federal share and implement corrective measures.²¹

Maine’s congressional delegation split in reaction. Senator Collins urged the state to be “transparent with its data.” Representative Jared Golden called any Medicaid fraud “awful” and backed accountability. Representative Chellie Pingree boycotted the address, calling the president’s rhetoric “vile, racist, and profoundly dangerous.”¹⁸

The 2023 Ballot Disqualification

The current fight has an earlier chapter worth knowing. In December 2023, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows ruled Trump ineligible for the state’s 2024 Republican primary ballot under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which bars officeholders who have “engaged in insurrection.” She was the first secretary of state in U.S. history to invoke the provision against a presidential candidate, citing Trump’s role in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.²² The Trump campaign called the ruling “election meddling.”²³ The question was mooted on March 4, 2024, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Trump v. Anderson that states lack authority to enforce Section 3 against federal candidates. Bellows withdrew her determination the same day, and votes for Trump in Maine’s March 5 primary were counted.²⁴

In the November 2024 general election, Kamala Harris carried Maine with 52.4% to Trump’s 45.5%, taking three of the state’s four electoral votes. Trump won the rural 2nd Congressional District with 53.8%, claiming one electoral vote under Maine’s district allocation system.²⁵²⁶

What Comes Next

Two things will shape the next chapter. The first is the Supreme Court. In January 2026, the justices heard arguments in cases from Idaho and West Virginia on state bans on transgender athletes in female sports, and appeared likely to uphold the bans. Justice Neil Gorsuch questioned whether Title IX, enacted in 1972, offered a clear mandate on gender identity. Justice Brett Kavanaugh asked whether the Court should “constitutionalize a rule for the whole country” given scientific uncertainty. A Trump administration attorney told the Court the administration is actively challenging states like Maine that permit transgender participation, while asking the justices not to resolve those challenges in the pending ruling.²⁷ A ruling against transgender participation would strengthen the DOJ’s hand in the Maine case; a narrower one would leave Maine’s constitutional defenses to be tested at trial.

The second is Maine’s 2026 U.S. Senate race, which has absorbed the Trump-Maine conflict as a defining issue. Governor Mills, who is term-limited and leaves office in January 2027, entered the Democratic primary campaigning on her record of resisting the administration, then suspended her bid on April 30, 2026, citing insufficient “financial resources.”²⁸ Oyster farmer Graham Platner won the June 9 Democratic primary with 74.6% of the vote.²⁹ A late-May 2026 UMass Lowell/YouGov poll of 650 likely voters showed Platner leading five-term Republican Senator Susan Collins 48% to 43%, with Trump’s approval in Maine at 39% and 70% of respondents saying the country is on the “wrong track.” The general election is November 3, 2026.³⁰

1
Spectrum News Maine. Maine a Party to More Than 30 Legal Battles With Trump Administration
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NPR. Trump and Maine Governor Janet Mills Clash Over Transgender Athletes
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Politico. Trump Demands Apology From Maine Governor Over Trans Athletes
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Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. United States v. Maine Department of Education
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K-12 Dive. Maine USDA Title IX Victory and Trump Administration Transgender Athlete Policy
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Portland Press Herald. What Could Supreme Court Cases on Trans Athletes Mean for Maine
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The Guardian. Trump Administration Freezes Maine Child Nutrition Funds
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CNN. Maine Sues Over Trump Administration’s Funding Freeze
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Maine Public. USDA Agrees to End Maine Funding Freeze
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Maine Public. Judge Orders USDA to Release Maine Funding Frozen in Title IX Dispute
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Maine Public. Trump Administration Pulls Funding From UMaine Wind Project
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E&E News. How New England Is Handling Trump’s Offshore Wind Assault
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ENR. DOE Halts Grant to U Maine for Floating Offshore Wind Turbine
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The Maine Monitor. Maine Challenges Trump Administration
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Maine Public. Gov Mills Says She Is Reviewing Trump’s Executive Actions
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National Fisherman. Tariffs Threaten Lobster Industry as Senators Push Back
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Maine Attorney General. Attorney General Aaron M. Frey Blocks Trump Administration Exerting Control Over Elections
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WMTW. President Trump Alleges Maine Fraud in State of the Union Address
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HHS OIG. HHS OIG Audit Finds Maine Made at Least $45.6 Million in Improper Medicaid Payments for Autism Services
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Portland Press Herald. Maine Made $45.6 Million in Improper Payments for Autism Services, Federal Audit Finds
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HHS OIG. Maine Made at Least $45.6 Million in Improper Fee-for-Service Medicaid Payments
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ABC News. Maine Secretary of State Rules Trump Ineligible for State’s 2024 Primary Ballot
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BBC News. Maine Removes Trump From 2024 Primary Ballot
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The Hill. Maine Withdraws Trump Ballot Ban
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CNN. Maine Presidential Election Results
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Politico. Maine Election Results
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SCOTUSblog. Supreme Court Appears Likely to Uphold Transgender Athlete Bans
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Maine Public. Janet Mills Drops Out of Race for US Senate
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Maine Morning Star. Graham Platner Projected to Win Democratic U.S. Senate Primary Race
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UMass Lowell. Maine Senate Poll