U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday said he was directing the U.S. military to deploy to Portland, Oregon and to protect federal immigration facilities against "domestic terrorists," saying he was authorizing them to use "full force, if necessary."
Ordering the latest crackdown on a Democrat-led city, Trump said in a social media post that he was directing Defense Secretary 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."
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, responding to Trump's order, said: "The number of necessary troops is zero, in Portland and any other American city. The president will not find lawlessness or violence here unless he plans to perpetrate it."
Rioters outside the ICE facility in Portland
(Video: Section 27A)
In a press conference on Friday, Wilson and other local leaders urged calm in the face of an apparent influx of federal officers that the mayor said did not come at the request of the city. "This may be a show of force, but that's all it is. It's just a big show," he said.
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, wrote on X that Trump "may be replaying the 2020 playbook and surging into Portland with the goal of provoking conflict and violence."
In 2020, protests erupted in downtown Portland, the Pacific Northwest enclave with a reputation as a liberal city, following the killing in Minneapolis of George Floyd. The protests dragged on for months and some civic leaders at the time said they were spurred rather than quelled by Trump’s deployment of federal troops.
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US President Donald Trump announces that the National Guard has been deployed in Oregon
(Photo: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP)
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, a Democrat, said her office was asking the White House for more information.
"There is no national security threat in Portland. Our communities are safe and calm," Kotek said on X.
Growing tensions in major cities
It was unclear whether Trump's warning that U.S. troops could use "full force" on the streets of Portland meant he was somehow authorizing lethal force and, if so, under what conditions. U.S. troops are able to use force in self-defense on domestic U.S. deployments.
The Pentagon did not offer any clarification about whether Trump was deploying National Guard, active duty troops or perhaps a mix of the two, as was the case in Los Angeles earlier this year.
"We stand ready to mobilize U.S. military personnel in support of DHS operations in Portland at the President’s direction. The Department will provide information and updates as they become available," said Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesperson.
Asked about the Portland decision on Saturday, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said ICE agents needed to be protected amid protests against immigration raids.
"We're not going to put up with it. This administration is not playing games," she said in an interview on Fox News.
There have been growing tensions in major U.S. cities over Trump's aggressive immigration crackdown days after a shooting targeting an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas left one detainee dead and two others seriously wounded.
Trump focus on crime, 'Antifa'
On Thursday, Trump told reporters that "crazy people" were trying to burn buildings in Portland. "They're professional agitators and anarchists," he said, without providing evidence.
Trump last week signed an executive order that declares the anti-fascist antifa movement a domestic "terrorist organization" as part of a crackdown on what he claims is left-wing sponsored political violence.
According to U.S. law enforcement, there has never been a terrorist incident in the United States connected to antifa. Trump first sought to designate the movement as a domestic terror organization during the nationwide George Floyd protests.
The most notorious episode involving the movement occurred in Portland in August 2020, when Michael Reinoehl, a self-identified antifa supporter, shot and killed Aaron “Jay” Danielson, a member of the far-right group Patriot Prayer. Reinoehl was killed by federal and local law enforcement officers during an attempt to arrest him.
Trump has made crime a major focus of his administration even as violent crime rates have fallen in many U.S. cities. His crackdown on municipalities led by Democrats including Los Angeles and Washington has spurred legal challenges and protests.
The Trump administration's goal of deporting record numbers of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally has framed the push around criminals, but it has arrested many people without criminal records. Residents in New York, Chicago, Washington and other Democrat-leaning metro areas have pushed back in recent months.
In the Chicago suburb of Broadview on Friday, ICE used tear gas, less-lethal rounds and pepper balls to quell protests outside an immigration detention center. Protests have also occurred outside other detention centers around the country, including in Portland.
The 'success' of immigration policy, and the criticism
The Department of Homeland Security revealed this week that since the start of Trump's second term as president - and his actions to fulfill his promise to deport hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants - more than 400,000 have already been deported, while 1.6 million illegal residents have "voluntarily left." At the same time, the department was criticized and even ridiculed last week after its official X account posted a video that was humorously edited to the original opening theme song of the Japanese animated series "Pokemon," which incorporated footage of Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities.
The US Department of Homeland Security's 'Pokémon' video
(Video: Section 27A)
The video, which is a play on words on the popular franchise's catchphrase, "Gotta catch 'em all!," opens with a house door being blown open and armed agents entering. Alongside the character of the series' protagonist Ash from the opening of the original series, arrests of illegal immigrants are documented, alongside heroic footage of ICE agents, with the caption "Department of Homeland Security" appearing instead of the series title.
The video concluded with a series of "Pokemon cards" - depicting arrested illegal immigrants, instead of cartoon pocket monsters. Each card listed the crimes committed by the illegals, including "Carlos Mendoza-Martinez - a Mexican gang member convicted of manslaughter," "Hussain Sharifi - sentenced to 10 years in prison for aggravated rape of a child," and "Herman Vazquez-Padilla - convicted of human trafficking."
Nintendo, the franchise owner, was forced to issue a clarification stating that "we are aware of the video published by the Department of Homeland Security, which includes imagery and language associated with our brand. The company was not involved in the creation or distribution of the video, and no permission was given to use our intellectual property."
Fans of the series have called on Nintendo to sue the Trump administration, but Don McGowan, a former executive at the company responsible for the brand, told the news website IGN that "I don't think they'll do anything, for a number of reasons," including the desire to avoid bad publicity. However, McGowan noted that "most of Nintendo's executives in the US work here with green cards - even if I were still part of the company, I wouldn't touch it. The story will die down in a matter of days, and they'll be happy to let it happen."