“Use full force if necessary”
— Donald Trump
Trump, once again governing by way of Truth Social, announced that he would be sending troops into yet another American city, Portland, Oregon. He called the City ‘war torn” as if talking about Ukraine.
“At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, I am directing Secretary of War, 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 wrote.
Per Politico, “The order came as a surprise to many in the Pentagon, and several officials were unsure what the orders will actually entail.
One official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said they expect it to be a National Guard mission that would look similar to Los Angeles and Washington, which was focused on “supporting federal and local law enforcement,” by doing logistics and and not much more.”
President Donald Trump is directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to send U.S. troops to Portland, he said Saturday on Truth Social, making the extraordinary pronouncement that he is greenlighting the use of “Full Force, if necessary” in an American city.
Trump’s powers to deploy federal troops domestically has already been challenged in court. A federal judge in September found that his use of military troops in Los Angeles was illegal. That district court judge paused his own ruling, and it was stayed by a federal appellate court while the appeal is ongoing.