US president Donald Trump ordered the military to be deployed to Portland, Oregon, to quell protests over his immigration policy, escalating his campaign against demonstrators opposing his policies.
“At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, I am directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists,” Trump said Saturday in a post on Truth Social. “I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary.”
Deployments in Portland would mark the fourth US city where Trump has sent National Guard troops for duty, assigning them to assist immigration officers, clean up streets and help fight local crime. National Guard troops have been deployed to Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and Memphis.
Saturday’s post wasn’t specific about whether Trump was referring to guard troops or regular military. Governors control each state’s national guard. Trump was able to federalise guard troops in Washington, DC, because of its status as a federal district.
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California governor Gavin Newsom successfully challenged Trump’s deployment of guard troops in his state, but the White House is appealing the federal court ruling.
Neither the White House nor the Pentagon immediately responded to requests for comment.
Oregon officials suggested Trump’s actions would only inflame the situation.
“Our nation has a long memory for acts of oppression, and the president will not find lawlessness or violence here unless he plans to perpetrate it,” Portland mayor Keith Wilson said in a statement.
Governor Tina Kotek said in a statement that she’d reached out to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for an explanation and said there was “no security threat in Portland”. Democratic representative Ron Wyden of Oregon, in a social media post, urged state residents “to reject Trump’s attempt to incite violence”.
Protests outside Portland’s federal ICE detention facility have been continuing since June, around the same time protests started in Los Angeles, with flare-ups on the July 4th and Labor Day weekends. Oregon is a “sanctuary state”, meaning that no state or local law enforcement is allowed to co-operate with federal immigration enforcement.
Trump has threatened to cut federal funding to such states, although a federal judge blocked the administration from doing so. Amid escalating tensions, Oregon lawmakers have criticised what they describe as mistreatment of detainees, while the city has challenged the facility with a land-use violation. DHS has deployed federal agents to Portland in response.
The protests, led in part by anti-fascist activists, have at times turned violent. Federal officials have condemned the actions, while Antifa-linked groups continue to call for more demonstrations, including solidarity rallies in nearby cities.
On Monday, the Trump administration designated Antifa as a domestic terrorist organisation, although the order holds no force of law because terrorist designations apply only to foreign-based actors and Antifa is an ideology whose adherents stage protests but under no organisation or leader.
Outside of anti-ICE protests, a violent-crime report by the Major Cities Chiefs Association for the first half of 2025 showed a 50 per cent drop in homicides in Oregon’s largest city, according to KATU, the ABC affiliate in Portland. The city has also seen a decline in reported rapes, aggravated assaults and robberies, the report said.
– (Bloomberg)
