Did the US really spend $8 million on transgender mice? White House records REVEAL truth on Trump's claim

Donald Trump's claim that the US government spent $8 million on creating “transgender mice” was initially brushed off as misinformation. However, a closer examination of federal funding records reveals that taxpayer dollars have indeed been funneled into research involving gender-affirming hormone treatments in rodents.

The White Coat Waste Project, a watchdog group dedicated to exposing government-backed animal experiments, has uncovered over $250 million in federal funding for transgender-related animal research over the past two decades, as reported by The Telegraph. The organization claims that at least two dozen active federal grants are currently financing such studies, totaling a staggering $64 million.

Where did the money go?

Several prestigious universities have received millions in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for research related to gender-affirming hormone therapy in rodents. Some of these projects include:

Duke University ($455,000) – Examining how HIV vaccines interact with male mice undergoing gender transition via female hormone treatments.

University of Michigan ($2.5 million) – Investigating the physiological and behavioral impact of hormone therapy on mice.

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center ($300,000) – Studying breast cancer risks in transgender individuals by analyzing tumors in hormone-treated mice.

Emory University ($735,000) – Exploring how gender-affirming hormone therapy alters gut microbiome composition.

University of California ($1.2 million) – Examining the effects of male sex hormones on female mice.

Indiana University ($3.1 million) – Researching the impact of feminizing hormone therapy on lung function in rodents.

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Elon Musk's take

Tech mogul Elon Musk took aim at these studies in a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, condemning them as a “horror show” and accusing researchers of “mutilating animals” with taxpayer money. He argued that such experiments were both unnecessary and unethical.

Trump’s claim initially faced heavy skepticism from mainstream media, with CNN labeling it false in a fact-check report. However, following a sharp rebuke from the White House, which dismissed CNN as “fake news losers,” the network quietly revised its assessment, acknowledging that Trump's statement was rooted in real NIH-funded studies.

Despite the uproar, researchers argue that these studies are not solely focused on modeling transgender hormone therapy but contribute to broader medical advancements. Experiments involving sex hormones in rodents have aided the development of treatments for conditions such as osteoporosis, breast cancer, and hormonal imbalances.

A researcher from Emory University clarified, “We study the effects of hormone treatment used by transgender people on skeletal development. The goal is to understand whether these treatments impair bone growth and increase the risk of osteoporosis later in life.”

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