Donald Trump has signed an executive order banning trans women athletes from competing in female sports.
The move is designed to prevent people who were biologically assigned male at birth from participating in certain sporting events, including those at school.
The order, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports”, will call for “immediate enforcement” against schools and athletic associations that deny women single-sex sports and single-sex changing rooms.
It also coincides with National Girls and Women in Sports Day and it marks another notable shift in the way the federal government treats transgender people under Mr Trump.
He also spoke about the coming Olympics and World Cup which the US is hosting, and said he wouldn’t allow any transgender athletes to compete.
He went on: “In Los Angeles in 2028, my administration will not stand by and watch men beat and batter female athletes.
“We’re not going to let it happen.
“Just to make sure, I’m also directing our secretary of homeland security to deny any and all visa applications made by men attempting to fraudulently enter the US while identifying as women athletes to try and get into the games.”
In signing the order, surrounded by a number of women and girls, Mr Trump claimed “the war on women’s sports is over”.
Image: Donald Trump speaking ahead of signing the order.
Pic: Reuters/Leah Millis
The order authorises the education department to penalise schools that allow transgender athletes to compete and any school found in violation could lose its federal funding.
Despite their small numbers within America, transgender people have been the target of three orders signed by Mr Trump since coming into office, Sky News’ US partner NBC News reported.
These targeted participation in the military and access to gender-affirming care.
On his very first day in office last month, Mr Trump passed one order that called on the federal government to only recognise two genders– male and female.
During his campaign, he pledged to “keep men out of women’s sports” and get rid of the “transgender insanity” but his office offered little in the way of details.
Olivia Hunt, director of federal policy at Advocates for Trans Equality, told Sky News’ Yalda Hakim that the order wasn’t just about elite athletes but would impact young children and their development too.
She said: “We’re basically taking those children and saying to them we don’t think it’s vital that you learn the same sets of skills that your peers develop [playing sports].
“We are setting you aside, putting you apart, and saying you’re different and it’s okay for you to be set aside, treated differently, and bullied by your peers.
“Children should be protected. Children should be allowed to follow their interests, follow the sports they want to participate in and not have to worry that public officials will treat their existence as a cheap round of applause.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:36
Trump’s trans sport stance welcomed
This is the latest in a flurry of executive orders the Republican president has enacted in his first days and weeks in office.
Some of these have been blocked by judges, and it is not yet clear if this order will avoid such a fate.
It will likely involve how the Trump administration interprets Title IX – a civil rights law that prevents sex-based discrimination in education programmes or activities that receive federal funding.
Ahead of the signing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the order “upholds the promise of Title IX”.
Cheryl Cooky, a professor at Purdue University who studies the intersection of gender, sports, media and culture, described the order as a “solution looking for a problem”.
Spreaker
This content is provided by Spreaker, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spreaker cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Spreaker cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Spreaker cookies for this session only.
Doriane Lambelet Coleman, a professor at Duke Law School, pointed out that Mr Trump could have just “read the [existing] regulation traditionally” to achieve the same goals, instead of introducing the new executive orders.
Americans will be able to visit national parks for free on Donald Trump’s birthday next year, but will no longer be able to do so on Martin Luther King Jr Day or Juneteenth.
The Department of the Interior has released a list of what it calls “resident-only patriotic fee-free days” for next year.
Mr Trump‘s birthday, which falls on the Flag Day national holiday, has been added to the list, as has the Fourth of July weekend and President Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday.
However, Martin Luther King Day and Juneteenth have been removed. Juneteenth was recognised in 2021 under Joe Biden’s administration and commemorates the end of slavery in the US.
Also removed are the anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act in August and the National Public Lands Day in September.
“President Trump’s leadership always puts American families first,” the US interior secretary Doug Burgum said.
“These policies ensure that US taxpayers, who already support the National Park System, continue to enjoy affordable access, while international visitors contribute their fair share to maintaining and improving our parks for future generations.”
The department said it was also introducing “America-first entry free policies”, which means US residents will continue to “enjoy affordable pricing” while international visitors “will pay a higher rate to help support the care and maintenance of America’s parks”.
It said the annual pass will cost $80 (£60) for US residents and $250 (£187) for nonresidents, with nonresidents without an annual pass paying a $100 (£75) per person fee to enter 11 of the most visited national parks, in addition to the standard entrance fee.
Image: The US Institute of Peace. Pic: AP
Trump renames US Institute of Peace after himself
The decision to make his birthday a ‘free’ day comes after Mr Trump’s name was added to the sign on the headquarters building of the United States Institute of Peace in Washington DC.
The State Department shared a photo of the building’s new facade and called Mr Trump “the greatest dealmaker in our nation’s history”.
He has also unsuccessfully put himself forward for the Nobel Peace Prize, sought to put his name on the planned NFL stadium in Washington DC, and had a new children’s savings programme named after him.
President Trump’s “America First” agenda has been spelt out in a new White House National Security Strategy that should make stark reading for allies and foes of the United States alike.
The new 33-page document outlines an upending of American foreign policy objectives and priorities which have stood largely unchanged through different administrations stretching back decades.
The document says American strategy went “astray” over many years. It seeks to reframe America’s strategic interests as being far narrower now than at any time in its modern history.
Among the key points, the document says:
• Europe faces “civilizational erasure” and could be “unrecognisable in 20 years or less”
• “Certain NATO members will become majority non-European” within a few decades
• America will “shift away” from the “burden” of the Middle East seeing it now as a “source and destination of international investment”
• In the Western hemisphere, America should pursue a policy of “enlist and expand… restoring American pre-eminence”
• In Africa, American policy focus should be on trade not “providing and spreading liberal ideology”
Image: America will ‘shift away’ from the ‘burden’ of the Middle East. Pic: Reuters
In black-and-white, the text articulates a dramatic strategic shift which has been playing out at lightning speed over the past year.
The document underlines the end of the concept of America as an arbiter of the democratic rules-based order.
“American foreign policy elites convinced themselves that permanent American domination of the entire world was in the best interests of our country. Yet the affairs of other countries are our concern only if their activities directly threaten our interests,” the paper says.
Every US administration publishes at least one National Security Strategy during a presidential term.
The focus of this one is starkly different from that published by President Biden in 2022.
It’s also notably different from the document which President Trump published during his first term. His 2017 paper cast the world as a contest between “repressive regimes” and “free societies”.
Image: Trump doesn’t want the US to be the arbiter of the democratic rules-based order. Pic: Reuters
This new one places the necessity to do trade above the imposition of values.
“We seek good relations and peaceful commercial relations with the nations of the world without imposing on them democratic or other social change that differs widely from their traditions and histories.”
Mass migration and Europe
The new document is highly critical of mass migration.
It warns that uncontrolled migration is destroying the concept of nation states which could impact America’s strategic alliances and the countries it counts as reliable allies.
The paper is particularly critical of Europe, of the European Union as a concept and of individual European nations.
“Should present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less,” the paper says.
It continues: “As such, it is far from obvious whether certain European countries will have economies and militaries strong enough to remain reliable allies.
“Many of these nations are currently doubling down on their present path. We want Europe to remain European, to regain its civilizational self-confidence, and to abandon its failed focus on regulatory suffocation.”
Image: Trump will seek to support ‘patriotic European parties’. Pic: AP
The document’s language around the politics of governing parties across Europe is particularly stark.
Regarding Ukraine, the document says: “The Trump Administration finds itself at odds with European officials who hold unrealistic expectations for the war perched in unstable minority governments, many of which trample on basic principles of democracy to suppress opposition.
“A large European majority wants peace, yet that desire is not translated into policy, in large measure because of those government’s subversion of democratic processes.”
Spotify
This content is provided by Spotify, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spotify cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Spotify cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Spotify cookies for this session only.
The document outlines how his administration will seek to support “patriotic European parties”.
This is entirely in line with President Trump’s rhetoric but still represents a major departure from the longstanding principle of not interfering in the politics of allies.
It says: “American diplomacy should continue to stand up for genuine democracy, freedom of expression, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ individual character and history.
“America encourages its political allies in Europe to promote this revival of spirit, and the growing influence of patriotic European parties indeed gives cause for great optimism.”
Image: Trump has at times had a fiery relationship with Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy. Pic: Reuters
Ukraine and Russia
On European-Russia relations, the document raises the prospect of war but curiously does not presume that such a conflict would involve America.
“Managing European relations with Russia will require significant US diplomatic engagement, both to reestablish conditions of strategic stability across the Eurasian landmass, and to mitigate the risk of conflict between Russia and European states.”
By contrast, President Biden’s National Security Strategy, published in 2022, underlined repeatedly the “iron-clad” commitment the United States had to Europe’s security.
Chinese risk and opportunity
The document presents Asia and the Indo-Pacific region as a source of opportunity for strategic and economic cooperation.
Image: Maintaining US military strength over China is also outlined. Pic: Reuters
“President Trump is building alliances and strengthening partnerships in the Indo-Pacific that will be the bedrock of security and prosperity long into the future…”
And specifically on China, the paper presents a goal of “economic vitality” achieved through a balanced economic relationship between the two countries combined with an “ongoing focus on deterrence to prevent war”.
Deterrence would be achieved, it outlines, by maintaining preeminent military strength over China.
It says: “This combined approach can become a virtuous cycle as strong American deterrence opens up space for more disciplined economic action, while more disciplined economic action leads to greater American resources to sustain deterrence in the long term.”
Hemispheres of influence
In line with President Trump’s focus on spheres of influence, particular focus is given to the western hemisphere.
There are clear references to the impact of drugs from south and central America into the US and more subtle references to control of the arctic.
“The United States will reassert and enforce the Monroe Doctrine to restore American pre-eminence in the Western Hemisphere, and to protect our homeland and our access to key geographies throughout the region,” the paper says.
It continues: “We will deny non-Hemispheric competitors the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities, or to own or control strategically vital assets, in our hemisphere.”
US President Donald Trump has been awarded FIFA’s new peace prize at the draw for next year’s World Cup.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino presented Mr Trump with a large golden trophy – formed of hands holding the earth – and a gold medal, which he wore around his neck.
The certificate, which Mr Infantino handed over at Washington DC’s Kennedy Center on Friday, recognises the US president for his actions to “promote peace and unity around the world”.
World football’s governing body, which announced the annual award last month, said it would be given to “individuals who have taken exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace”.
Mr Trump said it was “truly one of the greatest honours of my life”.
He said: “We saved millions and millions of lives. The Congo is an example – over 10 million people killed. It was heading for another 10 million very quickly.”
Image: US President Donald Trump. Pics: Reuters
He also pointed to India and Pakistan, saying, “so many wars that we were able to end, in some cases a little before they started”.
Ahead of the draw, Mr Trump told reporters he did not care about the prize, but noted that he had “settled eight wars” in nearly 11 months in office.
The United States, along with Canada and Mexico, will host the tournament in 2026.
Mr Infantino, who has built up a strong relationship with the US president, backed him for the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this year.
“This is what we want from a leader – a leader that cares about the people,” Mr Infantino said of Mr Trump.
The FIFA leader said to Mr Trump, “this is your prize, this is your peace prize”.
Image: US President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino. Pic: Reuters
Mr Trump thanked his family, including his wife, first lady Melania Trump, and praised the leaders of the other two host nations – Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum – in his brief remarks.
Mr Infantino has often spoken about football as a unifier for the world, but the prize is a departure from the federation’s traditional focus on sport.
FIFA has described the prize as one that rewards “individuals who have taken exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace, and by doing so have united people across the world”.
The award comes during a week where Mr Trump’s administration has been under scrutiny for lethal strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and as Mr Trump hardens his rhetoric against immigrants.
The Nobel Peace Prize this year was eventually awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who said shortly after receiving the prize that she was dedicating it in part to Mr Trump for “his decisive support of our cause”.