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What's Up With President Trump Defunding 'Transgender Mice' Research? The Origin Of The Viral Debate And Meme Explained
President Donald Trump's address to Congress last night had many listeners scratching their heads after hearing him deliver an off-hand comment about "transgender mice."
In a section criticizing government spending, Trump claimed that $8 million was allocated to "making mice transgender," a project even the most ardent LGBTQ+ supporters didn't know was on the table.
In the wake of the comment, many internet users discussed whether President Trump could be referencing "transgenic mice," which are genetically modified for studies unrelated to human gender identity. The ensuing confusion sparked a flurry of discourse and memes.
Still confused? Here's a recap of where the rumor may have originated and how it wound up becoming the topic of memes this week.
Where Did the "Transgender Mice" Rumor Originate?
Rumors about "trans mice" seemingly originate from a December 21st, 2024, blog post by the White Coat Waste Project, a watchdog group created to find government spending on research that requires animal experimentation, which alleged that $10 million in taxpayer money was squandered on creating "transgender mice and monkeys."
This revelation gained traction when Republican Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina referenced the investigation during a subcommittee hearing on February 6th, 2025.
Mace expressed outrage over taxpayer dollars funding "gender-affirming care" for animals, highlighting experiments that involved invasive surgeries and hormone therapies.
Your tax dollars were used to castrate mice and monkeys.Only in America.
DOGEGOPoversight pic.twitter.com/CDUAHBidOp— Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) February 6, 2025
What Did Trump Say About Transgender Mice?
Yesterday evening, during his address to the joint session of Congress, President Trump seized upon this narrative, lambasting government spending by spotlighting the alleged "$8 million for making mice transgender."
The official White House press release echoed this sentiment, criticizing the allocation of funds for such research.
However many eagle-eyed internet users noted that the research projects mentioned in the White Coat Waste report and by today's official White House press release were about "transgenic mice," which are mice genetically modified for scientific research.
Still, other internet users were quick to point out other government-funded projects that supposedly did use mice to research hormones and puberty blockers for transgender youth, as seen in a March 5th post by X user @robbystarbuck.
How Did Internet Users React to Trump's Statement About Trans Mice?
Following yesterday's address, the X account Autism Capital posted a clip of Trump's statement, amassing over 200,000 views and 6,000 likes within a day. Conservative figures then amplified the narrative, expressing shock and dismay over the perceived misuse of taxpayer funds.
🚨TRUMP: "$8M for making mice transgender. This is real." 💀 pic.twitter.com/JgxVWsrJY6
— Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) March 5, 2025
Conversely, many internet users pushed back on Trump's statement and highlighted the misunderstanding between "transgenic" and "transgender."
One such example was posted earlier today by TikToker @debunktionjunction, who shared a video attempting to debunk Trump's claim and explaining the scientific purpose of transgenic mice research. Since being shared, the video garnered over 1.5 million views and 270,000 likes as the viral debate surrounding the topic continues trending online.
@debunktionjunction #stitch with @Denielle – #trump #stateoftheunion #transgender #mice #lie #transgenic #research #science #maga #facts #debunk #scary #antiscience @Brett Meiselas @MEIDASJORDY @MeidasTouch @Youtube: Newsdoode @Eric @erin_nurse_practitioner @LaughterinLight PhD @ProfTracy ♬ Fashionable and cool Parisian accordion(892415) – ricca
For the full history of Transgender Mice, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.
