Federal troops headed to Portland to stop ‘Antifa-led hellfire,’ White House says

As federalized National Guard troops prepare to deploy in Portland, the Trump administration is invoking a narrative of a city wracked by “Antifa-led hellfire.”

“It’s obvious what’s happening in Portland isn’t protest,” the White House said Tuesday in a press release. “It’s premeditated anarchy that has scarred the city for years — leaving officers battered, citizens terrorized, and property defaced.”

Demonstrators have gathered in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in South Portland since June to protest the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, but the turnout typically amounted to a few dozen people before Trump’s announcement Saturday.

Elected leaders and officials in Portland and Oregon have urged Trump to reconsider sending troops to the city, saying it isn’t necessary. Gov. Tina Kotek exchanged a series of texts with one of Trump’s assistants in which she called the president’s decision “unlawful and unwarranted.”

Kotek also spoke on the phone with Trump on Saturday — a call that Trump touched on in a speech to senior military leaders on Tuesday.

“How about Portland?” he said. “Portland, Oregon, where it looks like a war zone. And I get a call from the liberal governor, ‘Sir, please don’t come in. We don’t need you.’ I said, ‘Well, unless they’re playing false tapes, this looks like World War II. Your place is burning down.’ I mean, you must be kidding. ‘Sir, we have it under control.’ I said, ‘You don’t have it under control, Governor, but I’ll check it and I’ll call you back.’ I called her back. I said, ‘This place is a nightmare. … It’s one of the worst. It’s brutal.”

The president might not be watching false tapes, but they’re likely old clips from the 2020 protests and riots that occurred in Portland in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Nothing like that is happening now in the Rose City, which has seen violent crime drop significantly over the past couple of years after reaching record highs during the pandemic.

Talking to the press Monday, Portland Police Chief Bob Day referenced the video clips of the city that are circulating nationally. He said he believes they’re from months ago or even years ago. “We’ve seen Portland portrayed through the lens of ’20 and ’21,” he said.

He added that the current events at Portland’s ICE facility “do not rise to the level of attention that they are receiving.”

Along with Kotek, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson has also pushed back against the planned troop deployment, calling it unnecessary and a “big show.”

“When these volunteers answered the call to service, they made a solemn promise to their communities and to the nation that the federal administration is now dishonoring,” he said of the National Guard troops that are expected to arrive in Portland, possibly this week. “The justification for their presence in our cities is either a misunderstanding or a lie. I hope it is a misunderstanding that we can soon resolve.”

At Tuesday’s gathering of generals, Trump mused that National Guard deployments in the U.S. could have a broader purpose than their stated one of protecting federal buildings and ICE agents, saying that the Defense Department “should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military.” He didn’t elaborate.

On Monday, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield filed a motion for a temporary restraining order in an effort to block the deployment in Portland. A hearing is scheduled Friday.