Defiant Trump vows to ban trans athletes

Donald Trump has waded into the growing debate surrounding transgender athletes in the United States while speaking at a 'Save America' rally in Texas, vowing that they will no longer be permitted to compete against biologically-born women when the Republican Party wrestles back control from their Democrat counterparts. 

Trump, who stopped short of committing to a presidential run in 2024, gave a lengthy 80-minute speech to the assembled masses in Conroe, Texas, on Saturday night where he touched on a range of issues from illegal immigration to the possibility of pardons for those convicted in relation to the January 6 2021 riots at the US Capitol.

But it was the issue of transgender rights, and the fairness of them competing against naturally-born women in athletic competition, which appeared to be one of the central tenets of Trump's polemic. 

Trans rights has been a political battleground between the contrasting philosophies within the US political sphere. More and more figures within sport have begun speaking out against the efficacy of having trans athletes competing alongside cisgender women, with stories from the worlds of weightlifting, swimming another others drawing global attention in recent months.

But as far as Trump is concerned, this is exactly where the Republican party should draw the line.

"We will ban men from participating in women's sports. So ridiculous," Trump said. 

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"Did you see the man that was on a swimming team at a certain school that I know very well? The record held for like 11 years, he beat it by 38 seconds.

"But the best is the weightlifting records - they're going. One guy walks in with one hand... he broke the record that held up for 20 years. For 20 years they're putting a little half an ounce on each side of the weights and the women are working so hard.

"Take a look at the weightlifting records. Two ounces in unacceptable, they beat 'em by many, many, many, many, many, many pounds."

Whether designed to or not, Trump's comments will enflame tensions between a chasm of opinion in the United States (and likely beyond) in which the terms 'woke' and 'cancel culture' have become implements of political branding.

The 45th US president suggested that issues such as these should be central to Republicans' thoughts as they navigate the upcoming midterm elections later this year, as well as the drive to reassume Republican control of the presidency in two years.

"We're taking back America and in 2024 we are going to take back that beautiful, beautiful house that happens to be white, that is so magnificent and that we all love. We are going to take back the White House," he promised.