Since their famous face-off in the White House, when President Trump reacted to Maine’s Governor Mills’ bizarre threats, willingness to sacrifice girls’ civil rights for her ego, a lot has happened.

The arrogant, un-Maine, wildly woke governor and her circle of hoary henchmen – and henchwomen – filed nine lawsuits against Trump. They are now under investigation for violation of civil rights, perhaps more.  Dozens of federal funding streams are frozen, as Mills rakes in anti-Trump money.

Three questions.

One: Is any of Governor Mills’ belligerence and theater – supported by her Democrat legislative majority – helping the people of Maine? Definitely not.

Mainers are in genuine pain. We suffer the highest fentanyl overdoses in history, fully 10,000 last year, 40 to 70 Mainers dying monthly. Mills does not care. Her phony AG meantime files lawsuits against oil companies in California with taxpayer earnings, $2.1 billion in abuse unanswered.

Mills pushed the biggest budget in state history, double a decade ago, taxes out of control – way beyond anything Mainers have ever seen, highest property taxes in America, near top tax burden, devastating seniors’ ability to stay in their homes, preventing young Mainers from having a home.

Maine’s schools? An administrative, overcontrolled, underperforming mass of bureaucratic mandates, all of which should be removed. Teachers are underpaid, lowest morale, leaving kids with 49th overall performance, after being number one in the 1990s. Democrats should hang their heads.

No, Governor Mills showcasing anti-Trump arrogance does nothing for Mainers, except hurt us all. National headlines for nothing, to distract from a doubled tax burden in a state with an average income of $42,000, plus her $450 million shortfall, zero coverage for seniors’ MaineCare in year two.

This is a Democrat-made disaster, a roadshow for fundraising, a weird legacy at the expense of average people. Mills is on a disgusting joyride, with no grasp of how regular people live, hurt, and want relief.

Two: Is Mills winning legally, with this settlement of her “mini-suit” against Agriculture? Hardly.

Having put $360 million in federal dollars for Maine’s schools at risk, like southern segregationist governors in the 1960s who tried to strip blacks of civil rights in violation of Title 6, Mills aims to strip Maine girls of civil rights under Title 9. Bluntly, she does not care.

Her behavior is worse than odd, it is deceitful, dishonest, and disgusting. All her life, she gained from Title 9’s protection of biological girls and women, now pretends Title 9 has no meaning, that 50 years of Supreme Court cases are unimportant, and federal rulings like Tennessee v. Cardona are of no matter. She hates Trump so much that she will hang Maine’s girls out to dry, indulging her inner witch.  

Is she winning? She says so, is that true? No. She has caused the Trump Justice Department to enforce civil rights law against her, denying Mainers needed funds. Her reckless, arrogant actions and posturing mean almost $360 million is being held back still, until she complies with federal law.

What about the settlement with Agriculture? It is a nothingburger, 3 million dollars. Trump’s team likely wanted the suit gone, had unintentionally blocked access to food funds, even though assured that they would be available. They had already assured student nutrition programs would not be held up, but administratively, they got blocked. Maine sued, got an injunction, likely begged for a settlement, and simply got it. No precedent set, no big win – that is all smoke and mirrors.

The settlement means nothing to Trump. Put differently, who needed that suit settled now – Trump or Maine? Maine, of course. Trump has far bigger fish to fry.

Look broader. Justice holds $360 million from Mills – until she abides by civil rights for girls, just as past presidents threatened southern governors if they did not abide civil rights of blacks.

Incredibly, Mills and her out-of-touch AG, Secretary of State, and Progressive majority refuse to abide by standing law, a collection of precedents overwhelmingly favoring Trump, half a century long.

What is she doing, other than being an ass? Hard to know, pushing an egotistical quarrel with Trump and the 2024 elections, with a majority wanting laws enforced fairly, no lawfare, wokeness, and abuse.

Maybe she thinks future lawsuits will vindicate her illegal position, that hurting Maine girls is worth the jousting with Trump, the way southern Democrats thought they could keep hurting blacks. But it will not hold up, and her anti-Trump obsession is very much damaging Maine, hurting Mainers.

Three: Where does all this lead? She and her Progressive henchmen and henchwomen will be flushed from office in 2026. Mainers are getting sick of it. This is so disgusting that average people will no longer tolerate it, and so watch the horizon. This is why I said enough, I am running for Governor. 

Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC. Robert Charles has also just released an uplifting new book, “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024).