Sep 5, 2025 minute read

President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he is considering deploying the National Guard to Portland, Oregon, in response to the ongoing riots outside the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in the southwest waterfront.

Speaking to reporters inside the Oval Office, the president referred to agitators involved in the anti-ICE demonstrations as “terrorists,” saying they would stand no chance against the National Guard. His comments follow more than 80 consecutive days of unrest outside the ICE facility located on Macadam Avenue, which began on June 7 when Antifa-affiliated protesters formed an occupation.

“We will be able to stop that very easily. These are paid terrorists…And they are very dangerous for our country,” said President Trump. “And when we go there, if we go to Portland, we’re going to wipe them out. They’re going to be gone. They won’t even stand the fight. They will not stay there. They’ve ruined that city. What they’ve done to that place it’s like living in hell.”

The 24-hour protests have been marked by near-nightly violent clashes between black clad demonstrators and federal agents, transforming a four-block radius of a residential neighborhood into scenes reminiscent of a war zone. On Monday, protesters rolled out a guillotine to send a message to ICE agents, resulting in federal officers responding with force.

Video footage captured by The Post Millennial shows protesters dodging munitions with makeshift shields, while others retreated from federal agents as the air filled with green, red, and white smoke and tear gas. Similar scenes have been occurring for roughly the past three months.

Since the occupation began, the US Department of Justice has criminally charged more than 20 protesters on a variety of offenses, including assault on federal officers causing bodily injury, depredation of government property, arson, and other protest-related crimes.

The president’s remarks come amid a broader push to deploy federal forces to cities experiencing protests over immigration policies. In June, Trump deployed 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to Los Angeles to quell similar anti-ICE protests. In recent weeks, Trump has signaled his intent to expand National Guard deployments to other cities, including Chicago and Baltimore, to address what he calls “lawless Democrat-run cities.”

Oregon Democratic Governor Tina Kotek sharply criticized the potential deployment, stating that the unlawful demonstrations have been “peaceful” and Oregon has no plans to request National Guard assistance.

“The president’s unlawful actions undermine our local authorities, who should be able to do their jobs without a federal intervention escalating and inflaming the situation,” she told reporters last week, according to the Oregonian. “I am the commander in chief. We are taking care of our communities. If there is any activity that needs to be taken care of, it will be done by local law enforcement. Right now, all protests have been peaceful and there’s no reason to think that it’ll be otherwise.”

It’s unclear why Gov. Kotek believes local law enforcement will respond to the chaos. Records show Portland Police officers have repeatedly failed to respond to 911 calls from residents reporting violent crimes occurring at the occupation, and officers have made no arrests since mid-June.

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