Trump criticizes CA rules on trans athletes ahead of CIF championships in Clovis
This weekend’s California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) State Track and Field Championships at Buchanan High School in Clovis will be held under a cloud of controversy after President Donald Trump questioned the eligibility of a transgender female athlete.
In a Truth Social post Tuesday morning, Trump blamed Gov. Gavin Newsom for allowing “MEN TO PLAY IN WOMEN’S SPORTS.”
“This week a transitioned Male athlete, at a major event, won ‘everything,’ and is now qualified to compete in the ‘State Finals’ next weekend. As a Male, he was a less than average competitor. As a Female, this transitioned person is practically unbeatable. THIS IS NOT FAIR, AND TOTALLY DEMEANING TO WOMEN AND GIRLS,” Trump wrote.
The athlete at the heart of the controversy — a junior at a Southern California high school — has been the target of a right-wing harassment campaign in recent weeks following her performance in the postseason. She currently holds the state’s top marks in long jump (20-1.5) and triple jump (41-4) in girls track and field.
Trump threatened to permanently withhold large-scale federal funding if California does not adhere to the executive order he issued in February, titled, “Keeping men out of women’s sports.”
The CIF said in a statement Tuesday morning that the organization will implement a “pilot entry process” to allow cisgender female athletes who failed to qualify to compete in the championships in Clovis.
“Under this pilot entry process, any biological female student-athlete who would have earned the next qualifying mark for one of their Section’s automatic qualifying entries in the CIF State meet, and did not achieve the CIF State at-large mark in the finals at their Section meet, was extended an opportunity to participate in the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships,” according to CIF.
Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom, told The Sacramento Bee that the pilot entry process offers a “reasonable, respectful way to navigate this complex issue without compromising competitive fairness,” an issue that Newsom expressed concern about earlier this year on his podcast.
Local Republican lawmakers supported Trump’s remarks and criticized the state’s response.
State Rep. David Tangipa (R-Fresno) said the CIF’s rule change was “an admission that opportunities are being stolen from female athletes.”
Clovis Mayor Pro Tem Diane Pearce urged the Newsom administration to acknowledge “how deeply unfair it is for our girls to be competing against boys.”
“If one of the ways that we can encourage our state legislature, the Newsom administration and the CIF to do the right thing is to have to rely on the federal government to threaten federal funding, that’s not my choice, that’s the CIF’s choice, that’s Gov. Newsom’s choice,” Pearce told The Fresno Bee. “They’re choosing to have that federal funding withheld over protecting our girls in their sports and spaces. So I think they’re making the wrong decision.”
This story was originally published May 27, 2025 at 3:01 PM.
