President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he had ordered U.S. troops to be sent to Portland, Oregon, to “protect” the city and federal facilities, authorizing the Pentagon to use “full force, if necessary.”
The move follows Trump’s designation of Antifa as a domestic terror group earlier this week and comes amid growing tensions over left-wing protests outside Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices in Portland. The announcement also marks the latest in a series of unprecedented deployments of federal forces to U.S. cities during Trump’s second term.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he was acting at the request of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. 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.”
Portland’s mayor, Keith Wilson, condemned the order as unnecessary and provocative. “The number of necessary troops is zero, in Portland and any other American city,” he said. “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.”
The White House has pointed to what it calls “Antifa violence” in Portland, citing incidents in which protesters allegedly attacked federal officers during demonstrations in June. The Department of Homeland Security claimed that activists had targeted ICE officers with lasers and smoke grenades and accused groups of publishing personal information about federal agents.
But state and local officials rejected the characterization of Portland as unsafe. Oregon Governor Tina Kotek said her administration had not been consulted about the deployment and insisted there was “no national security threat in Portland.” Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) accused Trump of staging an “authoritarian takeover” of his hometown, warning the president was trying to provoke violence for political gain.
The announcement revives memories of 2020, when Trump deployed federal agents to Portland during nationwide protests over racial justice and police violence. At the time, critics, including then-Governor Kate Brown, argued that the federal presence inflamed tensions rather than restoring calm.
Trump has increasingly used the military and federal forces to confront domestic unrest during his second term. Earlier this year, he dispatched troops to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., in response to protests, decisions that fueled legal challenges and drew accusations of overreach.
Local leaders in Portland have made clear they do not want federal intervention. Mayor Wilson said city police had successfully managed protests at ICE facilities and defended the city’s ability to protect both free expression and public safety.
Despite opposition from state and city officials, Trump’s order signals that Portland will once again be a focal point in the administration’s crackdown on dissent, setting up a confrontation between federal authority and local resistance.