Trump Vows Severe Legal Crackdown on Schools That Tell Students 'They Are Trapped in the Wrong Body'

President Donald Trump has warned every public school in the United States that telling a student they are 'trapped in the wrong body' amounts to child abuse, threatening federal funding cuts and civil rights investigations against districts that do not comply.

Trump made the remarks on Monday 24 August 2026 during a 'Back to School' event in the White House Rose Garden, standing alongside Education Secretary Linda McMahon.

The warning builds on federal enforcement action already under way against school districts in Maryland and Michigan over how they handle students' gender identity. It is also the latest repetition of language Trump has used since at least his 2024 campaign and his March 2025 address to Congress.

A Warning Delivered at the White House's Back-To-School Event

'Every public school in America is now on notice that if they tell a child that they're trapped in the wrong body, they are committing child abuse,' Trump told an audience of students, parents and educators.

He said his administration had moved to remove what he called gender ideology and critical race theory from public schools, framing the effort as returning control to parents. McMahon, appearing alongside him, said parents were 'back in the driver's seat' after years of what she called an education monopoly centred in Washington.

The president said schools that maintain what his administration terms radical gender ideology could face civil rights investigations and the loss of federal funding, an expansion of enforcement efforts the administration says are already under way.

The White House said the administration had also terminated more than £1.47bn ($2bn) in diversity, equity and inclusion spending and ended grants that had funded what it described as sexually explicit material for minors.

Federal Agencies Already Pursuing Two School Districts

The warning follows action the Department of Education announced in July, when its Student Privacy Policy Office and the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division moved against Anne Arundel County Public Schools in Maryland and signalled possible action against Ann Arbor Public Schools in Michigan.

Officials allege the Maryland district wrongly classified a student's gender identity as confidential medical information and withheld it from her parents, in violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

The complaint originated after parents said they discovered a school employee had been using a male name and pronouns for their daughter, learning of the change only through an internal email.

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon said the Justice Department would enforce federal privacy law 'to the maximum extent of the law' against any district that withholds a child's information from parents.

Several other Maryland school systems, including Prince George's, Montgomery and Frederick counties, have separately faced federal Title IX inquiries this year, as have five school districts in Northern Virginia.

Advocates Warn of Risks to Transgender Students' Privacy

LGBTQ advocacy groups have urged Maryland's state board of education to resist the federal pressure, arguing that policies protecting a student's gender identity at school reduce the risk of harassment and can prevent young people being forced to disclose their identity to unsupportive families.

Similar disputes have played out this year in Northern Virginia and Michigan, as the administration has expanded a nationwide push tying school funding to how districts handle transgender students.

Monday's remarks were not the first time Trump has used the phrase. In a March 2025 address to a joint session of Congress, he said he wanted lawmakers to pass a bill permanently banning what he called sex changes on children and ending what he described as the lie that a child is trapped in the wrong body.

The dispute over parental rights, student privacy and federal education funding shows no sign of being resolved before the new school year is fully under way.