President Donald Trump was met with awkward silence during a White House gathering on Tuesday when he sought validation for his ban on transgender athletes in women's sports.
The US president had invited more than 100 NCAA student athletes to the Oval Office to celebrate their championship victories, with teams including Texas A&M women's volleyball, Florida State women's soccer, and Oklahoma State men's golf among those present.
What began as a celebratory occasion swiftly turned political as Trump used the event to promote his executive order, signed in February, which prohibits transgender women and girls from competing on female sports teams at federally-funded educational institutions.
Addressing the assembled athletes directly, Trump asked: "Does anybody agree with that, that men should be able to play in women's sports? Would you like to raise your hand?"
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The room responded with nervous laughter as attendees kept their hands firmly by their sides.
Trump interpreted the silence as endorsement, stating: "So far I have never found anybody.
President Donald Trump was met with awkward silence during a White House gathering on Tuesday when he sought validation for his ban on transgender athletes in women's sports
|GETTY
"They say it's an 80-20 issue, but I've never been able to find anybody. So I think it's a 99-to-one."
He pushed further, suggesting the support might be even more overwhelming: "Maybe it's 100-to-nothing."
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Donald Trump addressed college athletes within the room directly
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Trump's directive, formally titled 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports', grants federal agencies power to withhold funding from schools and universities that fail to comply.
At the signing ceremony in the White House East Room earlier this year, the president declared: "With this executive order, the war on women's sports is over."
He warned institutions directly: "If you let men take over women's sports teams or invade your locker rooms, you will be investigated for violations of Title IX and risk your federal funding."
The order instructs the government to withdraw funding from educational programmes that deny women and girls fair sporting opportunities.
Donald Trump has tightened the rules on transgender athletes during his second term
| GETTYFollowing the president's directive, the NCAA Board of Governors implemented new regulations limiting participation in women's competitions solely to athletes who were born female.
Under the revised guidelines, students born male retain the ability to train alongside NCAA women's teams and access standard programme benefits, including medical provision.
However, the rules impose restrictions in the opposite direction as well. Athletes who commence hormone therapy become ineligible to compete on women's teams.
Programmes discovered to be allowing such athletes to participate face disqualification from NCAA women's championship events.