President Trump's Plan To Send 200 National Guard Personnel To Portland Gets Opposite

The National Guard and the United States military in Los Angeles. (Twitter/@USNorthernCmd)

JAKARTA - United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Sunday ordered the deployment of 200 Oregon National Guard troops under federal authority, while the state filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump's move to send troops to the Democrat-controlled Portland City.

Republican President Trump announced Saturday plans to send troops to Portland to protect federal immigration facilities from "domestic terrorists" and he allowed them to use "full force, if necessary."

Oregon's lawsuit was filed against President Trump, Defense Minister Hegseth and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem in federal court in Portland on Sunday by Attorney General Oregon Dan Rayfield (Democratic Party). The lawsuit accuses Trump of exceeding his authority.

"Just citing baseless and highly hyperbolic pretexts - the President says Portland is a city that is 'war-based' and is 'attacked' by 'domestic terrorists'. Thus, the defendants have violated Oregon sovereignty to manage law enforcement activities and resources of its own National Guard," the lawsuit reads.

The lawsuit states that protests against the Immigration and Customs Agency (ICE) in Portland have been ongoing on a small and relatively under control since June.

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, like other Oregon officials, learned of Trump's orders from social media on Saturday.

The plan to deploy Trump troops shocked many at the Pentagon, six US officials told Reuters that spoke on condition of anonymity.

On Sunday, Hegseth signed a memo ordering the deployment of 200 Oregon National Guard troops under federal authorities. The memo was published as an attachment to Oregon's lawsuit.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"Sending 200 National Guard troops to guard one building is not normal," Attorney General Rayfield said in a statement, apparently referring to the ICE facility.

Many Pentagon officials under President Trump himself were shocked.

"It was like a lightning strike," one US official said, adding the military had previously focused on careful planning for Trump's potential deployment of troops to cities like Chicago and Memphis.

It is known that the deployment of military forces by President Trump to other cities led by the Democratic Party, including Los Angeles and Washington DC, has sparked lawsuits and protests.

Violence crimes in Portland have decreased in the first six months of 2025, according to preliminary data released by the Association of Heads of Big Cities in the Mid-Year Violence Report. The death rate is down 51 percent compared to the same period the previous year, according to these statistics.

Since returning to office in January, President Trump has made crime the main focus of his government, although violent crime rates have declined in many cities in the US.

Tensions have risen in major US cities over Trump's crackdown on immigration days after a shooting targeting Immigration and Customs facilities in Dallas that killed one detainee and injured two others.