In March 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump made several posts on Truth Social that appeared to claim that the SAVE
Many of the posts said the SAVE America Act contained the following five provisions:
THE SAVE AMERICA ACT!
1. ALL VOTERS MUST SHOW VOTER I.D. (IDENTIFICATION!).
2. ALL VOTERS MUST SHOW PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP IN ORDER TO VOTE.
3. NO MAIL-IN BALLOTS (EXCEPT FOR ILLNESS, DISABILITY, MILITARY, OR TRAVEL!).
4. NO MEN IN WOMEN'S SPORTS.
5. NO TRANSGENDER MUTILATION SURGERY FOR CHILDREN.
(A since-deleted post from Trump's Truth Social account on March 5 originally said the fifth provision was: "NO TRANSGENDER MUTILATION SURGERY FOR CHILDREN, WITHOUT THE EXPRESS WRITTEN APPROVAL OF THE PARENTS.")
The White House later echoed Trump's posts, adding to confusion on social media about what, exactly, was in the SAVE America Act. Some users wondered why anti-trans provisions would be included in a bill that had largely been framed as targeting voting issues.
The SAVE America Act as passed by the House in February does not include the fourth and fifth provisions Trump listed (nor does it include a ban on mail-in ballots, although it would enforce new requirements on mail-in voters). As such, it was initially unclear whether Trump meant that the SAVE America Act should include these provisions, or if he meant to claim, falsely, that it did include those provisions.
Trump later said he wanted Republicans to add the two anti-trans provisions he previously posted about on Truth Social to the SAVE America Act. In response, on March 17, Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., proposed an amendment to the SAVE America Act that would add the president's demands to the legislation, with support from Senate Majority Leader John Thune. However, as of this writing, it has not received a vote in the Senate (see "Actions" for updates on its potential advancement).
In response to an email asking for clarity about the trans-focused provisions' relationship to the bill, the White House referred to an X post from Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, which said, falsely, that the SAVE America Act already includes bans on "men competing in women's sports" and "transgender mutilation surgery for children."
"Mutilation" rhetoric about trans health care is misleading and medically inaccurate, per the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights organization that classifies hate groups. One Harvard University study from 2024 found few to no instances of gender-affirming surgeries performed on trans minors and none performed on children under 12.
The NCAA president testified in 2024 that he believed there were fewer than 10 trans athletes in U.S. college sports.
Proposed amendment would add anti-trans provisions to bill
A read-through of the entire SAVE America Act and searches for "transgender," "gender," "sex," "women" and "sports" returned no sections that dealt with the anti-trans policies Trump proposed.
House Republicans passed the SAVE America Act without Trump's added anti-trans proposals on Feb. 11, but that version must pass the Senate, too, before Trump can sign it into law, which would require Democratic support. In order to include Trump's requested provisions in the SAVE America Act, lawmakers in both chambers would have to pass a new version before sending it to him.
Schmitt's proposed amendment, S. Amdt. 4420, included sections titled "SAVE AMERICAN SPORTS" and "SAVE AMERICAN CHILDREN." The section on sports would make allowing trans women to compete in women's sports a violation of Title IX, the landmark federal law banning discrimination on "the basis of sex" in schools and sports. While Trump signed an executive order directing the Secretary of Education to treat trans women in women's sports as Title IX violations, passing Schmitt's amendment would codify that into law.
"SAVE AMERICAN CHILDREN" would add fines or a 10-year imprisonment for anyone who "knowingly performs, or attempts to perform, genital or bodily mutilation on another person who is a minor" (see Sec. 301). It would impose the same punishments for a person who "facilitates or consents" to "female genital mutilation" or "chemical castration."
"Genital or bodily mutilation" is defined as including a wide number of surgeries "performed for the purpose of intentionally changing the body of such individual ... to no longer correspond to the individual's sex," including mastectomy, castration, vasectomy, hysterectomy, chest implants, feminizing or masculinizing plastic surgeries and more. Exceptions are listed for cases in which it is "necessary to the health of the minor," including in cases of early-onset puberty or an individual that "does not have normal sex chromosome structure."
In other words, the legislation bans procedures anyone might receive as medical care, but only when used to treat a transgender minor for gender dysphoria — a theme found in Trump-backed legislation on trans health care.
The 2024 Harvard study that found little to no gender-affirming surgeries done on trans minors also found that there are substantially higher rates of similar gender-affirming surgeries performed on minors who aren't trans, such as breast reductions for cisgender boys. (Schmitt's proposed amendment would not ban such breast reductions.)
In our breakdown of how the SAVE America Act would change how to vote, we confirmed the bill includes the first two provisions as listed by Trump. We also noted that the SAVE America Act does not ban mail-in ballots, although there are some restrictions on mail-in ballots due to the proof-of-citizenship and voter ID requirements in the legislation.
Trump calls anti-trans additions the 'gold' version
In a March 8 Truth Social post, Trump said he would not sign any other bills until the "gold" version of the SAVE America Act, including the two anti-trans proposals, was passed.
He then urged Republicans to pass a version of the SAVE America Act that would include the additional two provisions during March 9 remarks at the Republican Members Issues Conference in Miami, Florida, thus appearing to acknowledge that the SAVE America Act did not already include them. His comments on the SAVE America Act begin at 44:54, and the relevant portion is below:
I want to thank House Republicans for passing another common-sense measure — to me, the easiest of all: the SAVE America Act to protect our sacred American — [applause]. Look at this. [Applause] Look.
Trump's reference to "Mike" likely meant House Majority Leader Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, but it could also mean Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, the original Senate sponsor of the SAVE America Act.
Following his speech, Trump continued to claim that the SAVE America Act included the two anti-trans provisions, including in a March 11 Truth Social post. (Again, Schmitt did not submit his proposed amendment until March 17.)
White House repeats Trump's false claims about bill
Since Trump's March 9 remarks, the White House has acted as though the SAVE America Act already includes the anti-trans policies proposed by Trump.
In a March 10 news conference, Leavitt said:
No. 4, the SAVE America Act permanently bans men from competing in women's sports. President Trump signed a landmark executive order upholding the promise of Title IX and ending this dangerous and unfair practice. But now it's time for Congress to codify this into law.
No. 5, the SAVE America Act bans transgender mutilation surgery for children. Again, President Trump signed a common-sense executive order to do this and kept his promise to the American people, but now Congress needs to do the same and codify it. It's well past time for Democrats in Congress to stop perpetuating the radical and false claim that you can somehow change a child's sex. You cannot.
Passing the SAVE America Act is the most important thing that Republicans, and frankly, Democrats can do to strengthen election integrity and protect our democracy.
Her full remarks can be found on the White House YouTube page, with the SAVE America Act comments starting at 4:39. No reporters asked Leavitt specifically about the anti-trans provisions she incorrectly claimed were in the SAVE America Act.
In a March 10 statement to a Snopes reporter for a story related to Trump's remarks at the GOP retreat, the White House said in an email: "President Trump was discussing the commonsense policies in The Save America Act which includes keeping men out of women's sports, ending transgender mutilation surgeries for minors, and implementing widely supported election integrity measures."
In sum …
The SAVE America Act, as of this writing, does not include any policies specifically restricting trans rights.
Trump implied on social media that such policies were already in the bill. He later told Republicans that he wanted them to add bans on "men playing in women's sports" and "transgender mutilation surgery for our children" to the SAVE America Act — and that he would not sign any other bills unless legislators first passed his version of the SAVE America Act. In response, a Republican-backed proposal would add Trump's demands to the bill, but lawmakers have not approved it as of this writing.
The White House, following Trump's remarks, has repeatedly and falsely claimed that the SAVE America Act "permanently bans men from competing in women's sports" and "bans transgender mutilation surgery for children."