White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt affirmed on Wednesday that President Trump remains steadfast in enforcing his executive orders on girls’ sports, saying that he will not back down.

Trump’s order prohibits federal funding for schools that promote gender ideology and allow biological males to compete in girls’ sports. However, Maine and several school districts in other states appear to be defying the directive, setting up a potential legal battle with the administration, the Daily Wire reported.

“We know that the governor of Maine has really pushed back against the president’ executive orders saying that boys should not be in girls’ sports,” The Daily Wire’s Mary Margaret Olohan said to the press secretary from the White House’s special “new media” seat at the front of the White House briefing room.

“I spoke with a lawmaker from Maine this morning who told me she’d been censured by state lawmakers for calling a man a man and speaking up on this. What is the next move for the White House in this battle to protect the integrity of women’s sports?” Olohan asked.

“Well, the Department of Education has sued the state of Maine as you know. There’s ongoing litigation,” Leavitt responded.

“The president has made a commitment to ensure that states are being held accountable if they continue to allow men in women’s sports, which he believes is an egregious violation of taxpayer dollars, and so that fight continues, and the president won’t back down. Again, this is a common sense policy. Eighty percent of the American people, including more than 60% of Democrats, do not want men in women’s sports so the president will stand by this commitment,” Leavitt said.

🚨 @realDailyWire’s @MaryMargOlohan just asked @PressSec about @GovJanetMills continued defiance of President Trump’s EO, designed to keep biological males out of girls’ sports.

The White House’s response? Bring it on, President Trump will fight for the rights of our girls. pic.twitter.com/kUhLMIjAOY

— Rep. Laurel Libby (@laurel_libby) March 5, 2025

Last month, Democratic lawmakers in Maine voted to censure Republican state Representative Laurel Libby over a Facebook post highlighting a trans-identifying male athlete who won first place in women’s pole vaulting and helped his school secure Maine’s Class B state championship by a single point.

In February, Maine Governor Janet Mills engaged in a tense exchange with Trump during a meeting with governors at the White House.

“You better do it because you’re not gonna get any federal funding at all if you don’t,” Trump told Mills, referring to his executive order on women’s sports.

“Your population doesn’t want men playing in women’s sports,” Trump told her.