President Trump can not deploy Nationwide Guard troops to Portland, Ore., a federal decide dominated Saturday.
Trump had introduced plans to ship 200 Guard members into the town, and his administration appealed the decide’s resolution late Saturday.
“This country has a longstanding and foundational tradition of resistance to government overreach, especially in the form of military intrusion into civil affairs,” District Decide Karin Immergut, a 2019 Trump appointee, wrote in her resolution. “This is a nation of constitutional law, not martial law.”
Throughout his second time period, Trump has despatched Nationwide Guard troops to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., whereas threatening to take action in numerous different cities, together with Chicago, Memphis and Portland. He has sometimes met resistance from federal judges, who’ve dominated the deployments unconstitutional.
In Portland, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement workplace has seen nightly protests in a metropolis identified for its liberal politics and civic engagement. However earlier than Trump introduced plans to ship within the Nationwide Guard, the protests have been solely drawing a pair dozen folks per night time.
“Overall, the protests were small and uneventful,” Immergut wrote. “The president’s determination was simply untethered to the facts.”
Whereas Immergut famous the president has large latitude on when to deploy Nationwide Guard troops, she argued nothing on the bottom in Portland couldn’t be dealt with by native authorities. On Sept. 28, the identical day Trump introduced his intent, a big protest march within the metropolis drew zero arrests.
“Portland is not the president’s war-torn fantasy. Our city is not ravaged, and there is no rebellion,” Oregon Legal professional Common Dan Rayfield mentioned. “Members of the Oregon National Guard are not a tool for him to use in his political theater.”
Initially Printed: October 5, 2025 at 3:57 PM EDT
