Trump's remarks on recruiting LeBron James to women's basketball resurface amid WNBA trans athlete debate

Donald Trump talks about recruiting LeBron James to his women's basketball team in July 2022 remarks. The comments resurfaced on social media in August 2026.

The WNBA is in the midst of a firestorm as sports fans have rallied around Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham and her stance that women and girls shouldn’t have to compete against males.

WNBA coaches, columnists and media pundits have continued to miss the mark on Cunningham’s comments and have said everything from sports should be inclusive to labelling Cunningham "anti-Black" and against transgender people.

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President Donald Trump's 2022 remarks about recruiting LeBron James to a women's basketball team went viral in August 2026. (Getty Images)

In the midst of the heated conversations on social media, President Donald Trump’s comments about being a WNBA coach resurfaced on Tuesday night. Trump was making a speech at the America First Policy Institute in July 2022 and said he would be the greatest women’s basketball coach ever because he’d ask LeBron James if he had any "desire to be a woman."

"I’ll tell you what – I’d be the greatest women’s basketball coach in history. Because, I don’t like LeBron James. I like Michael Jordan much better. But I’d go up to LeBron James, it doesn’t matter, I’d say, ‘LeBron, did you ever have any desire to be a woman? Because what I’d love you to do is star on my team that I’m building up. I’ll have the greatest team in history. They’ll never lose. Nobody will come within 70 points of this team,’ Trump said at the time. "No, we have to change that. We have to make it OK to talk about it."

The clip took new life ahead of the Fever’s game on Wednesday