White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt clashed with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins in a tense exchange regarding Donald Trump’s threats to send National Guard troops to Portland.

Leavitt, 28, became agitated with Collins, 33, during the Monday White House press briefing after the CNN reporter asked what actions the president would take following a federal judge’s decision to block his deployment of National Guard troops to Oregon’s largest city over the weekend.

Collins highlighted that the judge, appointed by Trump during his first term, ruled against the deployment because the court determined it was ‘untethered to what was actually happening on the ground.’

‘Which local officials in Portland have said that the National Guard is needed there, if any?’ Collins asked. 

Leavitt snapped back: ‘With all due respect to that judge, I think her opinion is untethered in reality and in the law.’ 

“We are appealing that decision, we expect a hearing soon, and we firmly believe in the president’s legal authority on this matter. We are confident that we will succeed based on the legal merits,” Leavitt stated.

The exchange heated up as Collins responded: ‘But no local officials that you can point to that have said we need the National Guard?

“Because I spoke to the police chief of Portland last week, he said that the president’s claims just don’t align with the actual situation,” Collins countered.

Leavitt appeared irate at Collins’ line of questioning as she said she encouraged her ‘as a reporter to go on the ground and to take a look at it for yourself.’ 

‘Because there’s been many members of the press, not press in this room, but independent journalists, some of whom we’ll be inviting to the White House very soon to share their stories, because they have been in the middle of these riots, and they have witnessed the anarchy that is taking place night after night,’ she continued. 

‘It’s on video. You should play it on your show. You have a great opportunity in primetime on CNN to show your audience.’ 

The press secretary told Collins that she was ‘probably talking to partisan Democrat officials who are opposed to everything everything this president does.’

‘You should also ask the people who live in Portland. We’ve actually heard from many members of the community who have said that this is complete civil disobedience. 

‘It’s a mess. It’s been loud. It’s being troubling for neighbors in the community who are just trying to live peacefully. And these people are not there to peacefully protest. They are there to cause mayhem and havoc.’ 

Videos from Portland show crowds of black-clad, left-wing protesters regularly causing trouble outside an ICE depot in the city.

Local residents have complained their lives have been made utterly miserable by the round-the-clock noise and chaos that is unfolding in response to Trump’s immigration crackdown.

But anti-ICE protesters have been branded violent thugs, with independent journalist Katie Daviscourt left with a black eye after being attacked by an Antifa protester. 

The clash unfolded on the heels of a growing controversy surrounding Trump’s use of National Guard troops. 

The White House has attempted to use troops from Texas to crack down on crime in a number of Democrat-led cities, including Portland and Chicago, even as the city’s leaders say it would be unnecessary. 

On Sunday, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker accused Trump of trying to ‘invade’ his state, saying around 400 National Guard troops would be sent to Chicago to deal with anti-ICE protesters and Trump’s so-called war on crime.

‘We must now start calling this what it is: Trump’s Invasion,’ Pritzker said in an X post. ‘No officials from the federal government called me directly to discuss or coordinate.

‘It started with federal agents, it will soon include deploying federalized members of the Illinois National Guard against our wishes, and it will now involve sending in another state’s military troops.’