President Donald Trump has decided to deploy troops to Portland, Oregon, a city led by Democrats, which he has labeled as ‘war ravaged’ and under siege by left-wing ‘domestic terrorists’.
He announced this move on Saturday through his Truth Social account, stating that it was essential for the protection of ICE facilities, allegedly targeted by Antifa, an unstructured far-left movement opposing fascism.
“I am instructing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary troops to defend war-ravaged Portland and any of our ICE facilities currently besieged by Antifa and other domestic terrorists,” Trump posted.
Trump also said he is authorizing ‘full force, if necessary’, but did not further elaborate.
There have been numerous protests at the ICE building in South Portland over the last several months.
Protests against Trump’s mass deportation policies began in June, with one event escalating into what police have deemed a riot. Heavily armed law enforcement responded to protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets.
There have been more protests in July and early September at the same facility, The Oregonian reported.
The White House has yet to comment on the specifics regarding the size and scope of the military deployment to Portland. Additionally, there is no information available about when the troops are expected to arrive.
President Donald Trump ordered troops to Portland, Oregon, a Democratic-run city once known for its lax-on-crime policies
Pictured: Trump’s official declaration Saturday on Truth Social, his social media platform
Trump pointed to the actions of far-left protesters at an ICE facility in the city as the primary reason for the military dispatch (Pictured: Police deploying tear gas and shooting rubber bullets at protesters obstructing the ICE facility on June 18).
Portland is the latest city Trump has sent troops to, with Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. getting boots on the ground over the summer.
In June, Trump deployed the National Guard and the Marines to quell rowdy protests in Los Angeles, again over his administration’s immigration policies.
In August, he federalized Washington D.C.’s local police force while also activating the National Guard, claiming that the nation’s capital had been ‘overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people’.
Following these actions, Trump has openly mused about sending troops to other cities, including New York City and Chicago.
After Trump said earlier in September that he would be sending soldiers to Memphis, the city with the highest crime rate in the United States, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee confirmed Friday that federal agents are scheduled to arrive this coming Monday.
Officers from 13 federal agencies will join roughly 150 National Guard troops and state police troopers to support local law enforcement, Lee added.
Portland, though not nearly as crime-ridden as Memphis, has had its fair share of problems over the last several years.
The city is known for its homeless problem, with many encampments crowding the formerly desirable downtown area.
Pictured: Customs and Border Protection agents detain a man protesting outside the ICE building in Portland on June 14
The downtown area of Portland suffered a decline in the last few years, with tent encampments and drug use running rampant
Drug use was rampant in these encampments, something exacerbated by Oregon’s attempt to decriminalize formerly illicit substances.
The new law reduced possession of heroin, fentanyl and meth to the level of a parking ticket.
Fatal opioid overdoses surged, from 280 in 2019, to 628 in just the first six months of 2023 as homeless encampments and open-air drug markets spread throughout the city.
After intense pressure, state lawmakers reversed the decriminalization with a law that went into effect on September 1, 2024.
Another factor in Portland’s troubles in recent years, according to critics, was the election of Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt in May 2020.
Schmidt was sworn in just before the death of George Floyd and once costly racial justice riots began to spread across the country, including to Portland, he took a soft approach.
He vowed not to prosecute rioters unless there was evidence of ‘deliberate’ property damage, theft, or threat of force. Of 550 cases referred by police, just 47 went to trial.
More than 2,600 businesses had fled the city center by September 2022 as shoppers avoided downtown areas and retail theft began to spiral.
However, the new district attorney for the county, Nathan Vasquez, has been focused on reducing crime, an effort he believes will help the city’s economy can recover.
