Following U.S. President Donald Trump's address to Congress on Mar. 4, 2025, a rumor circulated online that he misspoke when he said the government used taxpayer money to fund research on "making mice transgender" — a claim we also investigated.
One popular TikTok video (archived) featured a clip from a second user who was talking about the "transgender mice" referenced by Trump. However, the original user claimed that Trump intended to say "transgenic mice." The TikTok video was then shared widely across social media and featured in multiple posts on X (archived).
As a result, numerous Snopes readers got in touch looking for clarity on the president's intended meaning.
What are transgenic mice?
Transgenic mice are genetically modified rodents used in biomedical research and have been lauded as a "revolutionary research resource," according to the National Institutes of Health. Put simply, geneticists modify lab mice to better reflect how human tissue reacts, making them invaluable in biomedical research.
For example, in 1994, the NIH said this "revolution in biology" was just getting started but had already affected how researchers were able to more fully understand the nature of things like immunology, neurobiology, human diseases and tumor biology.
So, did Trump actually mix up "transgenic" and "transgender"? A White House official said no.
"He obviously meant 'transgender,' that's what he said. You can read about the millions spent by Biden on transgender animal research here." The link goes to an article on the White House website titled, "Yes, Biden spent millions on transgender animal experiments." It contains a list of alleged research projects related to the claim.
What Trump said, verbatim
Around 23 minutes into the one-hour-and-40 minute address, Trump broached the subject of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency and made statements about where the organization allegedly found "appalling waste" in the federal budget (emphasis ours):
To further combat inflation, we will not only be reducing the cost of energy, but will be ending the flagrant waste of taxpayer dollars.
And to that end I have created the brand new Department of Government Efficiency … which is headed by Elon Musk.
[…]
Just listen to some of the appalling waste we have already identified: $22 billion from HHS to provide free housing and cars for illegal aliens, $45 million for diversity, equity and inclusion scholarships in Burma, $40 million to improve the social and economic inclusion of sedentary migrants. Nobody knows what that is. $8 million to promote LGBTQ+ in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of, $60 million for indigenous peoples and Afro-Colombian empowerment in Central America. $60 million. $8 million for making mice transgender.
This is real.
The White House article presents links to various reports from the NIH and read, in part:
Last night, President Donald J. Trump highlighted many of the egregious examples of waste, fraud, and abuse funded by American taxpayers, including $8 million spent by the Biden Administration "for making mice transgender."
The Fake News losers at CNN immediately tried to fact check it, but President Trump was right (as usual).
FACT: Under the Biden Administration, the National Institutes of Health doled out millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded grants for institutions across the country to perform transgender experiments on mice.
One of the studies it cites does include research related to gender-affirming health care, such as "preclinical studies to address breast cancer (BC) risk and treatment concerns of transmasculine people (female-to-male transition)," which the study also notes "will have direct implications for understanding BC risk and open up new avenues of treatment for cisgender men and women as well."
The study notes its use of mice but does not cite anything related to "making mice transgender."
In addition, Trump's talking point mirrors statements made by Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace during a subcommittee hearing, titled "Transgender Lab Rats and Poisoned Puppies: Oversight of Taxpayer Funded Animal Cruelty," weeks before Trump's address to Congress.
During the hearing she claimed: "The Biden-Harris administration spent 2.5 million taxpayer dollars to study the fertility of transgender mice. Let that sink in."
Mace referred to a
Further complicating the confusion around Trump's remarks is that the same TikTok video, which promoted the theory that the president meant to say "transgenic," also highlighted a news release by the Center for Environmental Genetics at the University of Cincinnati announcing the renewal of an $8 million grant for research.
The news release mentions "transgenic mouse construction" as part of its "Integrative Technologies Core," saying:
Led by Ricky Leung, PhD, assistant professor of environmental health, and [Shuk-mei] Ho, this core offers specialized services and expert consultation in facilities such as genomic and sequencing cores, transgenic mouse construction, genotyping, proteomics, high-field magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy, flow cytometry and mass spectrometry-based detection of metal ions.
However, this news release was published on April 30, 2018, during the first Trump administration, and does not appear to be related to the claims outlined in the White House article,
In sum, though it is indeed possible Trump misspoke during the address to Congress, the White House insisted his statement was both intentional and accurate.