The first game of chicken between the Trump White House and states allowing biological men to play in women’s sports is unfolding in Maine where Democratic leaders are refusing to honor his executive order abolishing the practice.

Speaking at a gathering of the Republican Governors Association on Thursday, the president expressed incredulity that Gov. Janet Mills would rebuff his call to respect the “No Men in Women’s Sports” executive order he signed on February 5th.

“I heard men are still playing in Maine,” he told the friendly crowd.

“I hate to tell you this, but we’re not going to give them any federal money, they are still saying ‘we want men to play in women’s sports’ and I can not believe that they’re doing that… So we’re not going to give them any federal funding, none whatsoever, until they clean that up.”

Mills said in a statement following President Trump’s remarks that she would not be “bullied” into following his orders.

“If the president attempts to unilaterally deprive Maine school children of the benefit of federal funding, my administration and the attorney general will take all appropriate and necessary legal action to restore that funding and the academic opportunity it provides,” Mills said.

Mills’ remarks were echoed by Democratic state Attorney General Aaron Frey, who said Trump’s rescinding of federal funds would be “illegal.”

“Fortunately, the rule of law still applies in this country, and I will do everything in my power to defend Maine’s laws and block efforts by the president to bully and threaten us,” he said, adding “it is disturbing that President Trump would use children as pawns in advancing his political agenda.”

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The drive in Maine to keep transgender athletes out of women’s sports has been spearheaded by State Rep. Laurel Libby of Auburn, a conservative who recently called out the Maine Principals Association for refusing to enforce the president’s executive order. Critics contend that the Trump order is a violation of trans athletes’ human rights under Maine law.

That argument is unlikely to stop Trump from starving Maine of the approximately $5 billion in federal funding state officials receive each year. With an annual budget of $13 billion, any loss close to that full amount would be disastrous.

To comply, state and local officials must prohibit “male competitive participation in women’s sports… as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth,” according to text of the order. Title IX enforcements will be made against institutions that do not apply, according to Fox News.

“Many sport-specific governing bodies have no official position or requirements regarding trans-identifying athletes. Others allow men to compete in women’s categories if these men reduce the testosterone in their bodies below certain levels or provide documentation of ‘sincerely held’ gender identity,” Trump’s executive order states. “These policies are unfair to female athletes and do not protect female safety.”

In addition to Maine, Democratic governors in California and Minnesota have announced that they will not comply with Trump’s order. Both refusals prompted Title IX investigations by the U.S. Department of Education into the Minnesota State High School League and the California Interscholastic Federation.

“The Minnesota State High School League and the California Interscholastic Federation are free to engage in all the meaningless virtue-signaling that they want, but at the end of the day they must abide by federal law,” said Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights.

“(The Office of Civil Rights’) Chicago and San Francisco regional offices will conduct directed investigations into both organizations to ensure that female athletes in these states are treated with the dignity, respect and equality that the Trump administration demands. I would remind these organizations that history does not look kindly on entities and states that actively opposed the enforcement of federal civil rights laws that protect women and girls from discrimination and harassment.”