Donald Trump signs executive order to block transgender athletes from women’s sports

The Athletic

Jenna West and Lindsay Schnell

February 5, 2025

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday to stop transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports unless they were assigned female at birth, promising to deny federal funding to high schools and colleges that do not comply.

“With this executive order, the war on women’s sports is over,” Trump said from the East Room of the White House.

The order follows one Trump signed on Jan. 20 — the first day of his second term in the White House — ordering the federal government to define sex as only male or female and to change federal policies and government-issued IDs to reflect that. Trump, along with other conservative politicians, have often hit on transgender athletes competing in women’s sports as an election-cycle issue. And 25 states have passed laws banning transgender athletes from girls’ sports at the high school and youth levels.

Trump, who signed the order on National Girls and Women in Sports Day, also took aim at the International Olympic Committee, saying that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will make the White House’s stance “as clear as anybody can make it.”

“We want them to change everything having to do with the Olympics,” Trump said.

Asked for comment by The Athletic, an IOC spokesperson wrote: “Working with the respective International Sports Federations, the IOC will continue to explain and discuss the various topics with the relevant authorities.”

Los Angeles is scheduled to host the Summer Games in 2028.

Opponents of transgender women competing in women’s divisions say that they have an unfair advantage over cisgender women when it comes to athletics, particularly in cases where transgender women go through male puberty before transitioning. Many supporters of trans women in sports say that outright bans amount to discrimination and target a small number of people.

In December, NCAA president Charlie Baker said during a congressional hearing in Washington that he believed there were fewer than 10 transgender athletes among the 510,000 competing at schools across all three divisions. At that time, Baker also said he would welcome federal guidance before considering any possible changes to NCAA rules.

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