WASHINGTON ‒ President Donald Trump said he is sending troops to Portland, Oregon, to protect ICE facilities, in the latest deployment of forces to a U.S. city.
Trump, in a Sept. 27 post on Truth Social, said he directed 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.” He added he authorized the military to use “Full Force, if necessary.”
Neither the White House nor the Pentagon would say whether Trump intended to deploy active-duty military troops or National Guard troops. In response to questions from USA TODAY, officials also would not say how many troops would be involved in the deployment.
The move follows weeks of protests outside ICE’s field office in South Portland opposing Trump’s mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. Some of those protests have turned combative with law enforcement, resulting in tear gas being deployed by officials.
As of Sept. 8, the U.S. Attorney’s Office had brought federal charges against 26 people for crimes including arson, assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest, according to a White House official speaking on the condition of anonymity.
‘We do not need or want federal troops in Oregon,’ governor says
State and local leaders in Portland denounced Trump’s military deployment at an outdoor news conference in the heart of downtown Portland hours after the president’s announcement.
Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek said she made it “abundantly clear” with Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in recent conversations that the city and state “can manage our own local public safety needs.”
“There is no insurrection, there is no threat to national security, and there is no need for military troops in our major city,” Kotek said, calling Portland a “far cry from the war-ravaged community” that Trump has portrayed. “We do not need or want federal troops in Oregon, stoking fear, creating conflict and, frankly, escalating a situation that is under control.”
The Trump administration has provided no timeline on the military’s arrival in her state, the governor said.
Kotek threatened potential legal action against the Trump administration, saying she doesn’t believe Trump has the legal authority to deploy federal troops to a state. She said she’s coordinating with the state’s attorney general to “see if any response is necessary, and we will be prepared to respond if we have to.”
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said Portland does not need military intervention. “The president will not find lawlessness or violence here,” said Wilson, whose office is a nonpartisan position.
“If President Trump came to Portland today, what he would find is people riding their bikes, playing sports, enjoying the sunshine, buying groceries from a farmers market,” he said. “At the end of the day, this may be a show of force, but that’s all it is. It’s a big show.”
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, shared a video on X of Portland’s ICE detention facility with no activity around the building except for a couple of joggers.
“Taken just a few minutes ago outside the ICE facility in Portland that Trump claims is under siege. My message to Donald Trump is this: we don’t need you here. Stay the hell out of our city,” Wyden said.
Pentagon not releasing details about deployment
As has happened in states across the country, federal agents and protesters have clashed regularly outside the ICE building in Portland, resulting in several arrests over the last few months. In a press conference on Sept. 26, local officials urged residents not to react to an increase in federal officers in the city.
The White House did not respond to a question from USA TODAY asking what Trump meant by authorizing the military’s “Full Force.”
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that “we are not going to allow domestic terrorists to attack our law enforcement.”
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the military is ready to mobilize at the president’s direction, adding the Defense Department “will provide information and updates as they become available.”
Democrats in Congress said they intend to fight Trump’s military deployment. “Portland is not ‘war ravaged.’ U.S. troops are not political playthings. And Trump is not a king,” Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer said in a statement. “Democrats will fight in Congress to stop him.”
The protests outside the ICE facility in Portland have occasionally been violent, but have largely been peaceful, beyond causing tension between residents and federal officials.
In a Sept. 26 news release, DHS pointed to arrests on two dates in June as examples of how people in Portland “have repeatedly attacked and laid siege to an ICE processing center.”
One person was charged for shining a laser in the eyes of ICE agents, another for throwing a smoke grenade at ICE officers and a third for attempting to damage equipment at the facility and then striking and kicking officers while being arrested.
The news release also stated that ICE agents have been doxed and were subject to death threats.
Trump earlier deployed the National Guard in Los Angeles and Washington, DC, amid strong criticism from Democrats in those areas and legal challenges. Only in Memphis has Trump’s order been welcomed by the governor, Republican Bill Lee.
Earlier in September, Trump described living in Portland as “like living in hell” and said he was considering sending in federal troops. He has made similar threats in other Democrat-led cities, including Chicago and Baltimore.
Since the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Trump has blamed the “radical left” for the country’s problems with political violence. In a memo Thursday, Sept. 25, ordering a crackdown on alleged “organized political violence,” Trump wrote that “riots” in Portland and Los Angeles have resulted in a significant increase in attacks on ICE agents.
Trump indicated Thursday that an operation was underway.
“We’re going to get out there and we’re going to do a pretty big number on those people in Portland,” Trump said. He described them as “professional agitators and anarchists.”
