Trump's 'Transgender Mice' Claim Misrepresents Medical Research Funding

The claim, repeated by the White House, falsely conflates transgenic mice studies with transgender-related experiments.

President Donald Trump stated in his State of the Union address that $8 million was spent on 'making mice transgender,' a claim later echoed by the White House.
The research in question involves transgenic mice, genetically modified to study the effects of hormone therapies, including their impact on diseases like breast cancer, asthma, and HIV response.
Conservative advocacy group White Coat Waste Project initially propagated misleading figures, claiming the government spent $245 million on 'transgender animal experiments.'
The studies cited by Trump and others focus on hormone therapy safety and its broader implications for both transgender and cisgender populations, not on altering the gender identity of animals.
Critics have highlighted that the funding represents a minuscule fraction of federal spending and supports critical medical research with potential benefits for millions of people.