Oregon sues to stop Trump military deployment

Federal agents confront protesters outside ICE facility in Portland, Oregon

Trump’s ‘provocative and arbitrary actions threaten to undermine public safety by inciting a public outcry’

(Image credit: Mathieu Lewis-Rolland / Getty Images)

What happened

Oregon filed a lawsuit Sunday seeking to block President Donald Trump from sending the state’s National Guard into Portland, calling it an unconstitutional abuse of power. Trump said Saturday on social media that he was deploying “all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland.”

The Pentagon Sunday told Gov. Tina Kotek (D) that at least 200 Guard members would be federalized and activated for 60 days, under the same contested authority as Trump’s deployment to Los Angeles this summer.

Who said what

Trump said the troops would protect “our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa,” and he was “authorizing Full Force, if necessary.” An ICE processing center south of downtown Portland has been targeted by protesters since June, but the demonstrations have been mostly small and peaceful. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) posted a video of empty streets outside the facility on Saturday. “We don’t need you here,” he told Trump. “Stay the hell out of our city.”

Trump’s “provocative and arbitrary actions threaten to undermine public safety by inciting a public outcry,” Attorney General Dan Rayfield (D) said in Oregon’s lawsuit. Business leaders also urged Trump to stay away. A letter released by the Portland Metro Chamber said the president’s depiction of Portland was “outdated” and “counterproductive” as the city finally rebounds after his previous federal intervention, in 2020, inflamed and prolonged racial justice protests.

Kotek said she spoke with Trump on Saturday and “told him in very plain language there is no insurrection or threat to public safety that necessitates military intervention.” Trump told her he had heard of multiple fires and the federal courthouse under siege, she said, suggesting the president had been watching videos from 2020. Trump first said he was weighing federal intervention in Portland a day after Fox News aired a report “misleadingly” mixing “clips from 2020 protests” with recent footage outside ICE, The Oregonian said.

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What next?

Kotek, Wyden and other Oregon officials urged protesters not to take Trump’s “bait” by responding violently to the deployment. As word of the troop arrival spread, “a few hundred protesters, including a naked woman, gathered at the ICE facility” Sunday, The Wall Street Journal said.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.