WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a powerful and emotional exclusive interview with CNN this week, Algerian Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif fired back at President Donald Trump and a host of American politicians, celebrities, and online commentators who have repeatedly labeled her a transgender woman or a man competing in women’s sports. Speaking from her home in Algeria nearly 18 months after her controversial gold-medal victory at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Khelif issued a direct plea that has resonated across the United States.

“I am a woman. I was born a woman, raised as a woman, and I have always lived as a woman,” Khelif said, her voice steady but laced with frustration. “I want to clarify to the people, to the President, and to all the politicians who are exploiting my image as if I’m transgender that I have nothing to do with transgender. I am not transgender. I am a female – a girl from a small village in Algeria who fought her whole life to represent her country.”

The 26-year-old welterweight star, who became the first Algerian woman to win Olympic boxing gold, has been at the center of America’s raging culture war over gender in sports ever since her dominant performance in Paris.

President Trump, both during his 2024 campaign and throughout his second term, has repeatedly cited Khelif as Exhibit A in his push to “keep men out of women’s sports.” In speeches, Truth Social posts, and even in the executive order he signed on his first day back in office, Trump has referred to Khelif as “a man who transitioned” or simply “that male boxer who beat up women in the Olympics.”

Just last month, during a closed-door Republican retreat on Capitol Hill, Trump again brought up Khelif by name, mocking her victory and claiming she “threw a devastating right hand that looked like it came from Mike Tyson – because it did come from a man.” The remark drew laughs from the room but reignited a firestorm on social media and cable news, with conservative commentators doubling down and liberal outlets accusing the president of bullying a young female athlete for political points.

Khelif says enough is enough.

“President Trump cannot distort the truth,” she told CNN’s Christina Macfarlane. “He keeps saying I am a man. He keeps using my face, my name, my pain, to push his politics. But I am not his prop. I am a daughter, a sister, an Olympian, and yes – a woman. I was born female. My passport says female. My entire life has been female. I dream of the day he finally sees me for who I am.”

The boxer’s frustration is shared by millions of Americans who watched the Paris controversy unfold in real time. What began as a disputed gender-eligibility test administered by the now-defunct International Boxing Association (IBA) in 2023 spiraled into a global frenzy when leaked documents suggested Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting had XY chromosomes. The IOC, which oversaw boxing in Paris after stripping the IBA of recognition, cleared both women to compete, stating they had lived and competed as female their entire lives.

Yet in the United States, nuance was lost. High-profile voices – from Trump and JD Vance to Elon Musk, J.K. Rowling, Riley Gaines, and countless Fox News hosts – framed Khelif’s participation as proof that “biological males” were invading women’s sports. Death threats poured in. Her village in Tiaret was harassed. Her family was doxxed. Khelif filed lawsuits against several American figures for defamation and cyberbullying, cases that are still working their way through French and Swiss courts.

Now, as the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics approach, Khelif is preparing for what she calls “the fight of my life – but this time outside the ring.”

She revealed she is willing to undergo any genetic or chromosomal testing required by the International Olympic Committee or the new governing body, World Boxing, if it means defending her title on American soil. “I have nothing to hide,” she said. “Test me tomorrow. Test me every day. I know what the results will say: I am a woman.”

In a moment that has already gone viral across American social media, Khelif looked straight into the camera and addressed President Trump personally: “Mr. President, I respect your office. I even respect you if you respect the truth. One day, God willing, I will stand on that podium in Los Angeles with gold around my neck again. And if you are there, I invite you – come put the medal on me yourself. Look me in the eyes and tell the world you finally see me as the woman I have always been.”

The White House has not yet responded to requests for comment on Khelif’s direct appeal, though Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, “The President has been very clear: men do not belong in women’s sports. Period.”

Across the country, reactions are pouring in. Women’s rights advocates like Martina Navratilova and Sharron Davies continue to question whether athletes with certain differences of sexual development should compete in the female category. Meanwhile, LGBTQ+ organizations, civil rights groups, and a growing number of moderate Republicans are praising Khelif’s courage and calling on the administration to stop using her as a political punching bag.

For many everyday Americans – especially young women and girls who watched Khelif dominate in Paris – her words hit home. “She’s not asking for special treatment,” said Emily Rodriguez, a 19-year-old college boxer from Miami. “She’s just asking to be seen. In a country that claims to love fighters, why are we beating up one of our own?”

As Los Angeles 2028 draws closer, Imane Khelif is training harder than ever. She has relocated part-time to France to pursue a professional license while keeping her amateur eligibility alive. She speaks daily with sports psychologists to heal the trauma of the last two years. And she carries one unwavering goal: to return to the Olympic ring, silence the doubters, and force the world – including the most powerful man in it – to finally call her by her truth.

“I am a female,” Khelif concluded, tears in her eyes but fire in her voice. “And no president, no tweet, no lie will ever take that away from me.”