U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday ordered 200 Oregon National Guard troops into Portland under federal authority after President Donald Trump announced plans to send military forces to the city, drawing an immediate lawsuit from state officials.
Trump said the troops would protect federal immigration facilities against what he called “domestic terrorists,” adding they were authorized to use “full force, if necessary.”
The move extends the president’s recent deployments of federal forces into Democrat-led cities such as Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., which have triggered protests and court challenges.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield filed suit in federal court in Portland on Sunday against Trump, Hegseth, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The complaint accused Trump of overstepping his constitutional powers and infringing on the state’s authority.
“Citing nothing more than baseless, wildly hyperbolic pretext — the President says Portland is a ‘war-ravaged’ city ‘under siege’ from ‘domestic terrorists.’ Defendants have thus infringed on Oregon’s sovereign power to manage its own law enforcement activity and National Guard resources,” the lawsuit said.
The Pentagon order, revealed as an attachment to Oregon’s lawsuit, caught many military officials off guard. Six U.S. officials told Reuters the plan was unexpected, with one describing it as “a bolt from the blue.”
Portland officials, including Mayor Keith Wilson, said they learned of Trump’s directive from social media. “Sending in 200 National Guard troops to guard a single building is not normal,” Rayfield said, referring to the targeted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility.
The timing of Trump’s order is particularly controversial given that violent crime in Portland has fallen sharply this year. According to the Major Cities Chiefs Association’s midyear report, homicides in the city dropped 51% in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024.
Trump, who has made crime and immigration enforcement central themes since returning to the White House in January, defended the deployment as necessary to restore order.
But critics recalled that during the 2020 George Floyd protests, federal troop deployments to Portland often inflamed rather than quelled unrest.
It remains unclear whether Trump’s authorization of “full force” implies approval of lethal force and under what conditions it could be applied. Under U.S. law, troops deployed domestically may use force in self-defense.
The escalation comes amid heightened tensions nationwide following a deadly shooting earlier this month at an ICE facility in Dallas that left one detainee dead and two others seriously wounded.
Source: Reuters
Written By Rodney Mbua
