Trump vows to fine California for letting trans athletes compete in women's sports

President Donald Trump promised “large-scale fines” against the state of California for allowing a transgender teenager to compete in a local track and field tournament, where the student won several medals.

"A biological male competed in the California state women's finals, winning big, despite the fact that they were warned by me not to do so," Trump posted early Tuesday morning on Truth Social.

The president added that Gov. Gavin Newsom “fully understands” that “large-scale fines will be levied.”

Hernandez shared his medals

AB Hernandez, 16, won two gold medals and a silver medal at the track and field championships Saturday in Clovis, near Fresno. Under new rules adopted to address the controversy sparked by his participation, he shared the medals with his rivals.

In the high jump, the young athlete cleared 5 feet 7 inches on his first attempt, sharing first place with two other competitors who reached the same height on their second attempts.

The three athletes stood together on the podium under new rules announced last week by the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), introduced in response to criticism of its policy permitting transgender athletes to compete.

CIF changes for competitions

The CIF first revised its entry rules to ensure that biological women would not be excluded from competition due to the participation of transgender athletes.

Then, the organization issued another rule change—specifically for the events Hernandez was to compete in—stating that any athlete who finishes behind a transgender athlete but misses the podium will still receive a medal.

Hernandez competed in the high jump, long jump and triple jump events. 

Trump threatened to pull California's federal funding 

The last-minute rule changes came after days of controversy, during which Hernandez became the target of Trump’s criticism on social media. Without mentioning the transgender athlete by name, the Republican president threatened to withdraw federal funding from California if she was allowed to compete in the tournament.

The Justice Department also launched an investigation into whether California violated Title IX, the law that prohibits sex discrimination in education programs receiving federal funding.