White House Blasts Newsom Over Trans Athletes in California Girls Track Meet

President Donald Trump's White House issued a sharp rebuke to California Gov. Gavin Newsom as a girls track and field playoff begins this weekend.

A White House spokesperson criticized Newsom in a statement to Fox News Digital over his state's policy permitting biological male trans athletes to compete in girls high school sports. "Gavin Newscum is a truly sick individual who has no regard for fairness, dignity, and respect. If he did, he wouldn’t allow men to compete in women’s sports, limiting women’s opportunities and jeopardizing their health and safety. President Trump fights for commonsense policies that uplift every athlete and restore fairness on the field," White House spokeswoman Allison Schuster said.

The statement responded to a prior comment from a source in Newsom's office about a "Save Girls Sports" protest planned for Saturday at the California Interscholastic Southern Section, Division 3, preliminaries in Yorba Linda. A trans athlete from Jurupa Valley High School is set to compete after winning two finals last season.

"The Governor has said discussions on this issue should be guided by fairness, dignity, and respect. He rejects the right wing’s cynical attempt to weaponize this debate as an excuse to vilify individual kids. The Governor’s position is simple: stand with all kids and stand up to bullies," the source told Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

California is one of 22 states with laws requiring students to participate in sex-segregated school sports consistent with their gender identity. The state passed its law, AB 1266, in 2013, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Former NCAA women's soccer player Sophia Lorey organized the Saturday protest. She held a similar one at the same tournament round last year, drawing national attention. Trump and Newsom clashed then when the same Jurupa Valley trans athlete advanced to the state finals. Trump posted on Truth Social, ordering California to bar the athlete from competing.

Last year's state finals in Clovis turned chaotic with competing protests, the arrest of a pro-trans activist for allegedly attacking a conservative activist, a plane flyover displaying a 'Save Girls Sports' banner, and Lorey's ejection from the venue.

After the athlete took first in triple jump and high jump, and second in long jump, Trump's Justice Department sued California agencies in July for alleged Title IX violations.

In September, Newsom Legal Affairs Secretary David Sapp emailed Jurupa Unified School District administrators what appeared to be California's motion to dismiss the suit, according to public records obtained by Fox News Digital. The email was forwarded ahead of a Sept. 12 meeting. It suggested recent talks with Sapp.

"You can let the team know that [JUSD administrator] & I received this from David Sapp with the Governor's office on Monday when discussing the issue with them and we're passing it along in case it is helpful for our discussion today," the email said.

Jurupa USD said it had no records from the Sept. 12 informal teleconference, attended by district legal counsel. Any notes were protected by attorney-client privilege.

"As discussed, please see attached for a copy of the motion to dismiss that we filed on Friday in USDOJ’s lawsuit around Title IX," Sapp's email stated.

A Newsom office source told Fox News Digital in January that on Sept. 8, 2025, JUSD Superintendent Trenton Hansen and Sapp discussed the DOJ suit. Sapp shared the publicly available motion to dismiss filed the prior week, without giving directives on the trans athlete or media.

Trump's Education Department launched a targeted investigation of Jurupa USD in January for potential Title IX violations, along with 17 other institutions.