President Trump mentioned Saturday he has ordered the deployment of troops to Portland, Ore. — and approved using “full force” if wanted — marking the newest escalation of his controversial operations in U.S. cities, concentrating on what he calls “left-wing terrorism.”
“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,” the president wrote in a put up on his social media platform.
“I am also authorizing full force, if necessary,” he mentioned.
With he didn’t provide particulars on a timeline for the deployment or what troops could be concerned, Trump seemed to be following up on feedback he made Thursday within the Oval Workplace, when he instructed reporters he was “going to do a pretty big number on those people in Portland,” whom he described as “professional agitators and anarchists.”
Portland, a metropolis of about 640,000 recognized for its progressive politics, has just lately made nationwide headlines for protests outdoors an ICE facility in opposition to Trump’s immigration insurance policies.
“We did not ask for them to come,” the Democratic mayor mentioned at a late Friday press convention. “They are here without precedent or purpose.”
On Saturday, Wilson fired again at Trump’s announcement, saying the variety of “necessary troops” wanted was “zero, in Portland and any other American city.”
“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,” Wilson mentioned in an announcement. “Imagine if the federal government sent hundreds of engineers, teachers or outreach workers to Portland instead of a short, expensive and fruitless show of force.”
AP Picture/Jenny Kane
FILE – U.S. Customs and Border Safety brokers detain a person outdoors the U.S. Immigration and Customs constructing throughout a protest in Portland, Ore., June 14, 2025. (AP Picture/Jenny Kane, File)
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek on Saturday urged residents to “stay calm and have a beautiful day,” writing on social media that her workplace had not been notified of “the reason or purpose of any military mission.”
Kotek, a Democrat, mentioned she was reaching out to the White Home and Homeland Safety for extra info.
“There is no national security threat in Portland,” she wrote. “Our communities are safe and calm.”
Saturday’s announcement, a dramatic escalation of the Trump administration’s crackdown on Democratic-led cities, comes weeks after the president threatened to deploy Nationwide Guard troops to Chicago, which he known as a “disaster” and a “killing field.”
Earlier this month, the president mentioned he would deploy troops to Tennessee to “fix” town of Memphis, which he known as “deeply troubled.”
Armed Nationwide Guard troopers from West Virginia patrol the Mall close to the Labor Division in Washington, the place a poster of President Donald Trump is displayed, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. (AP Picture/J. Scott Applewhite)
In August, after declaring a criminal offense emergency in Washington, D.C., Trump introduced that his administration would briefly take over the native police division to fight crime within the district, regardless of information displaying violent crime is down 26% from final 12 months.
He additionally deployed the Nationwide Guard and active-duty Marines to Los Angeles to suppress immigration protests earlier this 12 months.
