Over the weekend, President Donald Trump acted on an idea he’s been hinting at for a month: sending National Guard troops into the city of Portland.
In a memo sent to Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek Sunday, the president ordered the deployment of 200 Oregon National Guard members to protect federal officials and property.
The state and the city of Portland have sued to block the deployment. At a press conference, Kotek said she tried to convince President Trump during a phone call that the city did not need federal intervention.
“Oregon is our home. It is not a military target, and we’re going to fight back to make sure that we can keep Oregon safe,” she said.
Build up over weeks
For months, President Trump has been threatening to send federal law enforcement and National Guard troops to cities across the country.
In early June, thousands of National Guard members, along with hundreds of U.S. Marines, were deployed to Los Angeles amid ongoing protests against the Trump administration’s deportation policies. Two months later, members of the National Guard were again deployed — this time to combat crime in Washington D.C.
Since then, there’s been much speculation on where the president would next send National Guard members. Trump has publicly discussed sending troops to Chicago and guard members are set to be deployed to Memphis this week.
On Sept. 5, the president first floated the idea that Portland could be on the short list for National Guard deployment. When asked which city he could deploy troops to next, the president referenced a TV report he saw Thursday about ongoing protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Portland.
“Portland, it’s unbelievable what’s going on in Portland. The destruction of the city. I’m going to look at it now,” Trump said, potentially referencing a report on Fox News.
Since Trump took office this year, the ICE building has seen frequent demonstrations where federal agents and protesters have regularly clashed. Those conflicts have led to numerous federal charges against protesters, though most have been misdemeanors over relatively minor incidents.
On Thursday, the city came up again. In a memo ordering a crackdown on alleged “organized political violence,” the president cited “riots” in Portland and Los Angeles, saying they’ve resulted in a significant increase in attacks on immigration enforcement agents.
Speaking in front of reporters that same day, Trump again name-checked Portland.
“It’s anarchy,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “I don’t know how anybody lives there.”
'Protect War ravaged Portland’
Trump’s view of Portland as a city under siege was echoed in his post on Truth Social announcing that he’d authorized National Guard troops to be deployed to the city.
“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,” Trump wrote in a post Saturday. “I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary.”
The president did not specify what “full force” meant.
During a quickly put-together press conference in Portland Saturday afternoon, many local Democratic leaders condemned the president’s actions. Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said she’d spoken with the president earlier that day and told him that “Portland is doing just fine.”
“Our city is a far cry from the war-ravaged community that he has posted about on social media,” the governor said Saturday. “I conveyed that directly to him.”
More than 100 leaders from business, labor and elected offices signed a letter opposing deployment of troops. Though others voiced support for the Trump administration’s decision.
“It’s shameful that state and local leaders have allowed violent mobs and domestic terrorists to assault federal law enforcement, destroy property, and interfere with those seeking immigration services from obtaining assistance and case management,” said Christine Drazan, Republican minority leader in the state House. “We need order, we need to restore safety, and Oregon’s local leaders have failed to provide it.”
Kotek said when she voiced her differing view of Portland with Trump on Saturday, the president responded, “‘let’s keep talking.’” But by Sunday morning, the governor’s office had received an order making it clear that Trump had made his decision.
A morning memo
On Sunday morning, Kotek received a memo from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stating that the president was invoking the Title 10 designation to federalize the state’s National Guard.
The memo said that 200 guard members would be called up to “protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other U.S. Government personnel who are performing Federal functions.” They’d also be tasked with protecting federal property “at locations where protests against these functions are occurring or are likely to occur.”
Within hours, Oregon and the city of Portland sued the Trump administration in federal court to block the deployment of troops into the city.
“Public safety is, and should be, always a top priority for all of us. The problem is that the president is using social media to inform his views,” Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said at a press conference announcing the lawsuit Sunday. “Public safety requires partnership and the president has shown absolutely zero interest in this.”
Rayfield said his office intends to file a temporary restraining order to stop the deployment and hopes to be “before a judge within the week to be able to do so.”
After news of the deployment, hundreds of people gathered outside of the ICE building in Portland Sunday afternoon and into the evening.
Several who demonstrated this weekend pushed back against the way they say the protests have been portrayed by the Trump administration, and said that demonstrations outside the building are an expression of their First Amendment rights.
“We don’t need troops on our soil in Portland,” Mayor Keith Wilson told reporters Sunday. “Portland is not an enemy.”
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
