Oregon officials are moving to block President Donald Trump’s order deploying National Guard soldiers to Portland, calling it an unlawful escalation and a direct violation of state sovereignty. A 41-page federal lawsuit filed Sunday in the U.S. District Court of Oregon challenges what leaders describe as an unconstitutional “unlawful deployment” that threatens to destabilize rather than protect communities.
The suit, backed by Governor Tina Kotek and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, names Trump as well as “Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem as defendants. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, who announced the legal action, said the president lacks authority under Title 10 of the U.S. Code to federalize National Guard troops except “only in circumstance of invasion, rebellion, or when federal laws cannot otherwise be executed. None of those circumstances exist in Oregon.”
The lawsuit argues that the “heavy-handed deployment of troops threatens to escalate tensions” and foment “new unrest” in a city that state leaders say is stable and capable of handling its own public safety needs.
“Oregon communities are stable, and our local officials have been clear: we have the capacity to manage public safety without federal interference,” Rayfield said in a statement. “Sending in 200 National Guard troops to guard a single building is not normal.”
Rayfield added that the move was political, not protective. “What we’re seeing is not about public safety,” he said, “it’s about the President flexing political muscle under the guise of law and order, chasing a media hit at the expense of our community.”
Trump announced the deployment on Truth Social, declaring he had authorized troops to use “Full Force, if necessary.” He wrote: “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.”
Local officials rejected the president’s characterization of Portland as false and dangerous. “President Trump has directed ‘all necessary Troops’ to Portland, Oregon. The number of necessary troops is zero, in Portland and any other American city,” Mayor Wilson said in a Saturday statement.
Governor Kotek echoed that sentiment, saying there was no basis for the order. “In my conversations directly with President Trump and Secretary Noem, I have been abundantly clear that Portland and the State of Oregon believe in the rule of law and can manage our own local public safety needs,” she wrote on social media. “There is no insurrection. There is no threat to national security.”
The American Civil Liberties Union condemned the order as unlawful and a violation of basic rights. “This major escalation from the President and the federal government has no place in our politics or our communities,” said Sandy Chung, executive director of the ACLU of Oregon. “Oregonians have for months been exercising their constitutional right to criticize cruel federal policies. A forcible deployment of federal troops and armed law enforcement violates our right to govern ourselves and endangers our families and freedoms.”
Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU’s National Security Project, warned the move fits into a broader pattern of authoritarian tactics. “Like for other cities, President Trump’s justification for deploying troops and armed federal agents to Portland is blatantly false and inflammatory, as well as jeopardizes residents’ fundamental liberties,” she said. “After a harrowing week for our First Amendment freedoms, we see the President’s strategy for what it is—an attempt to create conflict where there is none, sow fear in our communities, and intimidate people from exercising their constitutional rights. But we won’t be cowed, and we can’t let this president normalize military and armed federal policing in our country. This is not how a healthy democracy works.”
Representative Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.) called the order “an egregious abuse of power and a betrayal of our most basic American values.” She added: “Authoritarians rely on fear to divide us. Portland will not give them that. We will not be intimidated. We have prepared for this moment since Trump first took office, and we will meet it with every tool available to us: litigation, legislation, and the power of peaceful public pressure.”
Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and other members of the state’s congressional delegation also countered Trump’s “war ravaged” language by posting videos of calm downtown streets and writing that “Portland is a vibrant and peaceful city, and does not require any deployment of federal troops or additional federal agents to keep our community safe.” Their letter to Trump, Noem, and Hegseth stated: “This unilateral action represents an abuse of executive authority, seeks to incite violence, and undermines the constitutional balance of power between the federal government and states. We urge you to rescind this decision, and withdraw any military personnel and federal agents you have recently sought to deploy.”
The lawsuit and opposition come against the backdrop of painful memories in Portland. During the summer of 2020, a federal deployment to the city led to widely documented abuses. As Oregon lawmakers reminded Trump in their letter, “A federal agent shot a peaceful protester in the head with a crowd-control munition, sending the man to the hospital with a fractured skull. Federal agents were captured on video jumping out of unmarked vans and grabbing people off the streets without explanation. A county commissioner was tear gassed along with other non-violent protestors. A Navy veteran was filmed being beaten by federal agents after he questioned them about their actions.”
The lawmakers concluded: “These examples, and many more that occurred in Portland, demonstrate that the federal agents who were parachuted into Portland incited violence and trampled over the constitutional rights of Americans. There is no question that another deployment by your administration will result in similar abuses.”
Civil rights lawyer and author Alec Karakatsanis argued that Trump’s framing was enabled by years of fear-driven reporting. “This kind of outrageous misinformation would not be possible without the culture of fear spread for years by the mainstream media,” he said on social media. “He is playing on the prodigious ignorance and irrational fear cultivated by the way the news media distorts our sense of safety. Portland, needless to say, is nothing remotely like what Trump describes.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also condemned Trump’s words. “Sending troops into American cities doesn’t make our communities safer—it just stokes fear and stirs up chaos,” she wrote. “Trump is plunging further into authoritarianism every single day.”
While Oregon leaders seek an injunction to block the order, the state’s National Guard confirmed there has been no official request for activation. “No official requests have been received at this time,” said Lt. Col. Stephen Bomar in an email to the Associated Press. Still, local officials reported an uptick in the presence of federal agents and armored vehicles in Portland as the dispute escalated.
Trump’s critics say the deployment is not about public safety, but about control and political gain. As Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) warned constituents, “Trump is sending troops to Portland with the goal of ‘doing a number’ on the city. We know what this means. He wants to stoke fear and chaos and trigger violent interactions and riots to justify expanded authoritarian control. Let’s not take the bait! Portland is peaceful and strong and we will take care of each other.”
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