Any Mainer who has followed the news knows about Gov. Janet Mills’ confrontation with President Donald Trump at a White House event for the National Governors Association on Feb. 21. Trump was angry that Maine hadn’t complied with his executive order that trans student athletes not be allowed to participate in girls athletic events.

Mills noted that she was complying with federal and state law. Trump threatened to withhold all federal funds from Maine if she didn’t comply. She said, “See you in court.” Trump reverted to his usual bullying mode, noting that it would be an easy case. He then snarled that she would never get reelected.

Never one to tolerate anyone — especially any woman — who has the audacity to stand up to him, Trump demanded that Mills issue a “full-throated apology,” adding that “I’m sure she will be able to do that quite easily.”

Not so fast. Mills was in no mood to issue an apology. Moreover, she had already been a target of Trump’s bullying. According to The New York Times, “When he visited the state early in the pandemic, he insulted her public health policies and called her ‘a dictator’ who ‘doesn’t know what she’s doing.'”

To her credit, Mills punched right back. “I have spent the better part of my career listening to loud men talk tough to disguise their weakness.” She has described her own experience as a young woman with an alcoholic boyfriend who once held a loaded gun to her head. (She promptly left him.)

Trump being Trump, he launched a fusillade of attacks on Maine to get back at Mills. To cite but one example, the acting head of the Social Security Administration ordered the termination of two data collection contracts with Maine in late February. When warned that such a move would increase fraud, the agency responded that it was more important to punish Maine’s Democratic governor.

In an email, Leland Dudek, the acting head, wrote that Mills was “disrespectful” and “unprofessional” toward Trump. In an email, he wrote, “Please cancel the contracts. While our improper payments will go up, and fraudsters may compromise identities, no money will go from the public trust to a petulant child,” referring to Mills. Time out. This whole narrative definitely includes a “petulant child,” but it is Donald Trump, not Janet Mills.

Other examples. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration sent a letter to Maine canceling funding for a Maine Sea Grant. The Department of Education launched an inquiry against Maine. The Department of Agriculture imposed a funding freeze that could threaten free meals for schoolchildren. Attorney General Pam Bondi cut funds for Maine prisons because the state was housing a transgender woman in a women’s prison.

Let’s look at the big picture, the stated reason for Trump’s antipathy for Janet Mills and, by extension, the entire state of Maine. He’s irate that Maine is letting a boy who becomes a girl compete against girls. Hey, Trump and MAGA people, take a guess at how many trans athletes compete against girls in Maine. The answer? Two. To put things in a broader perspective, there are more kids with measles in Texas than there are trans athletes competing against women in all the colleges around the country.

That said, I must admit that the issue is complicated with no easy answers. I, personally, believe that a better option might be to create opportunities for trans athletes to compete against trans athletes in other parts of the country.

By the way, Trump claims that he’s so adamant about this issue because he wants to “protect women and girls.” That’s a remarkable assertion coming from a man who has been accused of sexual assault by dozens of women dating back to the 1970s; found liable for sexual abuse by a jury and forced to pay millions to E. Jean Carroll; was great friends with Jeffrey Epstein, one of America’s most notorious sexual predators; through his judicial appointments, spearheaded the overturning of Roe v. Wade; and has a history of blasting women in the media who ask him tough questions.

If only we had just a few GOP members of Congress who possessed Mills’ courage in the face of Trump’s bullying. Look at all the major law firms currently being cowed by Trump’s threats of retribution. Or the members of the media who’ve toned down or, worse, eliminated their criticism of Trump.

A meme found on the internet bears repeating. “Time zones are funny. It can be noon in London at the same time it is 6 a.m. in Canada and the late 1930s Germany in America.”

Political punsters used to say that, “As Maine goes so goes the nation,” because Maine was a bellwether state for presidential elections. Maybe, just maybe, Janet Mills’ strong stand against Donald Trump will encourage other leaders to say and do what must be done to put an end to Trump’s assault on our Constitution, on our democracy and on America. Let’s hope so.

David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary and suggestions for future “Just a Little Old” columns at dtreadw575@aol.com.