Gov. Tina Kotek (D-OR) and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson became the latest blue state and city leaders to push back against President Donald Trump‘s federal troop city deployments Saturday.
After Trump directed War Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday morning to direct “all necessary troops” to Portland, the Oregon officials banded together in a press conference to reject the idea that federal troops were needed to fight crime in the Democratic city.
“There is no insurrection, there is no threat to national security, and there is no need for military troops in our major city. Military service members should be dedicated to real emergencies,” Kotek said.
The Portland Mayor echoed the governor’s sentiments, saying the city does not need any federal help.
“President Trump has directed ‘all necessary troops’ to Portland, Oregon. The number of necessary troops is zero,” Wilson said. “We do not need any intervention.”
Trump’s deployment of federal troops followed a week of anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protests in Oregon’s biggest city. This week, the Department of Homeland Security saw elevated threats against ICE agents after a shooter opened fire at a Texas ICE facility. Trump said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem requested federal intervention following the protests.
“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. I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Kotek called Trump’s decision to deploy federal troops a “drain” of taxpayer resources, saying she spoke directly to the president before he announced the move.
“Our city is a far cry from the war-ravaged community that he has posted about on social media,” Kotek said. “I conveyed that directly to him.”
TRUMP ORDERS HEGSETH TO DEPLOY TROOPS TO PORTLAND
In terms of U.S. cities with the highest violent crime rates per 100,000 people in 2024, Portland sat at number 72, according to local news.
Mayor Wilson said he would join with other Portland-area mayors on Monday to sign a joint statement modeled after Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s executive order rejecting federal troop deployment. Wilson said the Portland community does not need “occupying troops,” but instead needs collective caring.
