WASHINGTON — President Trump appears on the verge of reversing protections put in place by the Obama administration to stop discrimination against transgender students in schools, officials said Tuesday.

Civil rights advocates said that the possible rollback of protections, which could come as soon as Wednesday, would represent a major step backward after the enormous progress made by gay and transgender people in recent years.

The administration signaled that an announcement was imminent on the question of whether transgender students should be able to use the bathroom of their choosing — and that Mr. Trump could well come down differently from his predecessor, President Barack Obama, a forceful advocate for transgender students.

Mr. Trump believes that “this is a states’ rights issue and not one for the federal government,” Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, told reporters on Tuesday.