Donald Trump signs executive order banning trans women athletes from competing in female sports
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.
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Pic: Reuters
Ahead of signing the order, Mr Trump said: “From now on women’s sports will be only for women.
“We’ve gotten the woke lunacy out of our military and now we’re getting it out of women’s sports.”
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”.
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.”
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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”.
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‘A solution looking for a problem’
It is not clear how many trans athletes are competing in the US, but cases like Lia Thomas swimming for the University of Pennsylvania have drawn attention in the past.
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”.
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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.
Democrat Zohran Mamdani – who described himself as “Trump’s worst nightmare” – is set to become New York’s next mayor, Sky’s US partner network NBC News projects.
The projected win – with 60.2% of votes counted – comes after one of the most colourful races in years and looks set to have a profound effect on US national politics.
Mr Mamdani will be the first Muslim, first South Asian, and youngest person in a century to be elected as New York City mayor.
The first reaction from the Democrat came on social media while votes were still being counted, where Mr Mamdani posted a video of a subway coming to a stop as a tannoy says: “The next and last stop is: City Hall.”
After the current Democratic mayor, Eric Adams, announced he would run as an independent after a corruption scandal, Andrew Cuomo emerged as frontrunner to take the party’s nomination.
He was looking to rebuild his career after resigning as governor of New York State in 2021 amid allegations of sexual harassment.
But in a major upset, relative outsider Mr Mamdani took the nomination instead, and became the favourite for mayor. Cuomo then chose to run as an independent.
Read more:
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Who is Zohran Mamdani?
On the eve of the election, Mr Trump said Mr Mamdani – who is known for left-wing policies and campaigning on issues like affordable housing – would bring “disaster” to the city.
He encouraged backers of Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate who trailed in polling, to transfer their votes to Mr Cuomo instead.
Pic: NDZ / STAR MAX / IPx / AP
New York’s mayoral race was one of four elections on Tuesday serving as a bellwether referendum on Mr Trump’s second term as president.
Democrats Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill won their races to become state governor in Virginia and New Jersey, respectively.
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A cargo plane has crashed near an airport in Kentucky.
Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) say officers are attending the scene of the accident near Louisville International Airport.
The force added: “LMPD and multiple other agencies are responding to reports of a plane crash near Fern Valley and Grade Lane.
“Grade Lane will be closed indefinitely between Stooges and Crittenden. Injuries reported.”
UPS said it has been notified of an incident involving one of its aircraft. In a statement on its website, the company said three people were on board.
A fireball erupts near airport property after reports of a plane crash at Louisville International Airport, Kentucky. Pic: Jon Cherry / AP
Pic: Brad Harvey / AP
Pic: Jon Cherry / AP
A shelter-in-place order was also issued within five miles of the Kentucky airport, which is also home to UPS Worldport, the delivery firm’s largest package handling facility in the world.
The airport said that all arriving and departing flights are temporarily suspended, that the airfield is closed, and warned passengers should closely monitor their flights.
The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) said the crash happened around 5.15pm local time (10.15pm UK time) as the plane left the airport, bound for Honolulu in Hawaii.
It added that the aircraft was a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 plane, primarily used by cargo airlines.
Kentucky governor Andy Beshear added on social media: “First responders are onsite, and we will share more information as available.
“Please pray for the pilots, crew and everyone affected. We will share more soon.”
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Former US vice president Dick Cheney has died from complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, his family has said.
In a statement, his family said the 84-year-old was surrounded by his wife Lynne, daughters Liz and Mary, and other family members.
The Republican was one of the most polarising vice presidents in US history under George W Bush from 2001 to 2009, and was a leading advocate of the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Dick Cheney with George W Bush. Pic: Reuters
In later life, he became a target of Donald Trump, especially after his daughter, Liz Cheney, became the leading Republican critic and examiner of Mr Trump’s actions surrounding the January 6 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol.
“In our nation’s 246-year history, there has never been an individual who was a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” Mr Cheney said in a TV advert for his daughter.
“He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He is a coward.”
Dick Cheney looks on as his daughter Liz Cheney takes the oath of office in 2017. Pic: AP
Last year he said he was voting for Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, to be president against Mr Trump.
Mr Cheney survived five heart attacks and declared in 2013 he woke up each morning “with a smile on my face, thankful for the gift of another day”.
Pic: Reuters
His family’s statement said: “For decades, Dick Cheney served our nation, including as White House Chief of Staff, Wyoming’s Congressman, Secretary of Defense, and Vice President of the United States.
“Dick Cheney was a great and good man who taught his children and grandchildren to love our country, and to live lives of courage, honor, love, kindness, and fly fishing.
“We are grateful beyond measure for all Dick Cheney did for our country.
“And we are blessed beyond measure to have loved and been loved by this noble giant of a man.”
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