War on women’s sports ‘is over,’ Trump declares with executive order

President Trump signed a long-awaited executive order Wednesday banning biological males from women’s sports and locker rooms.

Before a White House room packed with women and girls, including former swimmer Riley Gaines, Trump made good on another campaign promise with the stroke of his pen. The Republican has already signed orders stating the U.S. recognizes only two genders and ridding the federal government of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies and personnel.

“You’ve been waiting a long time for this; so have I,” said Trump, who began his second term in office less than three weeks ago after a four-year hiatus. “It’s so ridiculous, but here we are.

“Under the Trump administration, we will defend the proud tradition of female athletes, and we will not allow men to beat up, injure and cheat our women and our girls,” he continued. “From now on, women’s sports will be only for women.”

Trump’s order comes on National Girls and Women in Sports Day, a nearly 40-year-old annual commemoration of female achievement in sports. The directive will affect how the federal government interprets Title IX, the landmark 1972 law that gave women equal treatment and opportunities in regards to sports.

The Biden administration had sought, unsuccessfully, to redefine Title IX’s requirement of equality based on “sex” or gender to include gender identity, which is something an individual can change from their birth gender. A federal judge criticized Biden and then-Education Secretary Miguel Cardona for attempting to bypass the legislative process and render Title IX “largely meaningless.”

Gaines, who lost a collegiate championship to a man, stood behind Trump during the ceremony. At one point he reached out and shook her hand.

“This is a victory for every girl who has fought for fairness, every woman who refused to be silenced, & every future athlete who deserves a level playing field,” Kaitlynn Wheeler, an ambassador for The Riley Gaines Center, posted on X. “Together, we are reclaiming what is ours.”

Trump also shared that since his election on Nov. 5, the military has reversed its recruiting slide. After missing monthly targets during much of the last four years, the military had its best month in more than 15 years in December.

“Every single day, nearly 350 new soldiers enlisted to defend our nation, and they’re very, very happy to have done so,” Trump told the crowd. “We’ve done lots of interviews, and we asked why this was taking place now, and they just said, ‘there’s a spirit about our country that they haven’t seen in many, many years.’

“We’ve gotten the woke lunacy out of our military, and now we’re very importantly getting it out of women’s sports.”

Trump cited men who shattered women’s records in weightlifting and cycling competitions, and the two men who battered women’s faces during boxing competitions at the Paris Olympics as reasons to institute the ban.

“All of that ends today,” he said. “Because with this Executive Order, the war on women’s sports is over.”