OAN Staff James Meyers
10:38 AM – Tuesday, June 3, 2025
On Tuesday morning, President Donald Trump announced that the state of California will face “large-scale fines” following yet another controversy in which a male high school athlete, who identifies as female, secured multiple victories at the state’s track and field championships over the weekend.
“AB Hernandez,” the biological male athlete who attends Jurupa Valley High School, took first place in the girls’ high jump and triple jump events at the May 31st meet in Clovis.
AB Hernandez’s recent victories at the California state track and field championships occurred despite prior warnings from President Donald Trump.
The president had cautioned California officials against allowing Hernandez, or any other trans athlete, to compete in girls’ events, citing his executive order banning transgender-identifying women and girls from participating in women’s sports.
“A Biological Male competed in California Girls State Finals, WINNING BIG, despite the fact that they were warned by me not to do so,” Trump declared on Truth Social.
“As Governor Gavin Newscum fully understands, large scale fines will be imposed!!!”
As pressure was applied by the Trump administration last week, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), which is in charge of all high school sports in the Golden State, changed its rules temporarily — in order to allow female athletes who lost out on wins due to transgender athletes — to compete in the biggest event of the season.
The CIF subsequently awarded first-place medals to the top-performing female athletes who are not biologically male in both events in which Hernandez competed. This unprecedented decision resulted in the transgender athlete sharing the first-place podium with another competitor, marking a significant and unusual development in high school athletics.
Hernandez won the girls high jump after “hitting 5 feet, 7 inches, with zero failed attempts.” However, female competitors Lelanie Laruelle and Jillene Wetteland hit the same mark, which allowed them to share the podium with Hernandez.
In addition, during the triple jump, Hernandez also won the event easily with a distance of 42 feet, 2 inches. Kira Grant Hatcher took second place with a jump of 40 feet, 5 inches.
The 47th president previously warned that federal funding would be “held back, maybe permanently,” if California didn’t abide by his February executive order to protect women’s sports.
Nonetheless, regarding the opinion of California officials, Governor Gavin Newsom had made a surprising admission to conservative commentator Charlie Kirk in early March, similarly saying that he believes it’s “deeply unfair” to allow transgender athletes to compete against biological women in sports.
This also comes after the Trump administration opened a probe into the state of Maine in order to determine whether or not it was breaking Title IX rules, a provision of the Civil Rights Act that restricts schools that engage in sex-based discrimination, from receiving federal funds.
The investigation put up more than $250 million in annual federal funding at risk for the state.
In May, the Justice Department (DOJ) also announced that they would be investigating whether California’s School Success and Opportunity Act, which gives transgender students the freedom to compete in women’s sports, violates Title XI.
Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights, also threatened to take legal action against the state on Monday over that policy.
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