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Portland

POTUS exited the residence at 11 am October 5, 2025. He took questions on Israel-Gaza deal, the shutdown, Portland and the drug war. "Asked if he'll follow the judge's order in Portland: "We're going to look at that. It was amazing. Portland is burning to the ground. It's insurrectionist all over the place. It's Antifa. And yet, the politicians who are petrified, look, the politicians are afraid for their lives. That's the only reason that they say like this, nothing happening, and you've seen it, the place is burning down, and they pretend like there's nothing happening. So we'll take a look at the order. We haven't seen the order today....

"I wasn't served well if they put judges like that. I wasn't served well by the people that picked judges. I can tell you things like that are just too bad. I appointed the judge and he goes like that, so I wasn't served well. Obviously, I don't know the judge, but if he made that kind of a decision. Portland is burning to the ground. You have agitators, insurrectionists. All you have to do is look at that. Look at the television. Turn on your television, burning to the ground, the governor, the mayor, the politicians are petrified for their lives of the words the government. That judge ought to be ashamed of himself."

Eksewere, Trump said "Portland is burning to the ground. You have agitators, insurrectionists. All you have to do is look at that."

Portland has a long history as a progressive city and a hub for hippie subculture, a reputation that began in the 1960s. Many aging hippies continue to fight for the rights and freedoms they championed in their youth. They participate in activism through voting, supporting progressive causes with their finances, and upholding their values. Events often draw multi-generational audiences, bridging the gap between original counterculture movements and their modern-day iterations.

"Portland aging hippies" refers to the original counterculture participants from the 1960s and 1970s, now in their elderly years, who remain connected to Portland's historical hippie culture, particularly the psychedelic scene that took root in the city. This legacy continues through figures like Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters, who were associated with the city, and a community that still values aspects of the hippie movement, such as communal living and a non-conformist spirit.

The hippie subculture began influencing Portland after the countercultural scene in San Francisco, leading to the establishment of psychedelic hubs like the Crystal Ballroom. Figures associated with Ken Kesey, like Ken Babbs, were central to this movement and have a lasting connection to Portland, with their psychedelic bus famously drawing crowds in the city years after its cross-country trip.

The original ideals of communal living, rejection of societal norms, and acceptance of others continue in modern forms, such as evolved communes and various expressions of bohemian lifestyle. The city's historical ties to the hippie movement have left a lasting cultural imprint, evident in communities and individuals who maintain a connection to this influential period.

Portlandia was a sketch comedy series that aired on IFC from 2011 to 2018, created by and starring Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein. The show was a gentle yet incisive satire of Portland, Oregon's progressive, artisanal, and aggressively quirky culture. What made Portlandia special was its affectionate tone - it never felt mean-spirited despite skewering everything from feminist bookstore owners to obsessive picklers to people who needed to know the entire provenance of their chicken dinner. The show understood that the hipster culture it was mocking was also genuinely trying to make the world better, even if the execution was sometimes absurd.

The chemistry between Armisen and Brownstein was the show's secret weapon. Armisen, a former Saturday Night Live cast member, brought his gift for physical comedy and character work, while Brownstein - best known as the guitarist for the riot grrrl band Sleater-Kinney - proved to be a revelation as a comedic performer. Together they created dozens of recurring characters that became cultural touchstones: the overly cautious diners obsessed with their chicken's life story, the militant feminist bookstore owners Toni and Candace, the tech-averse record store employees, and perhaps most memorably, the couple who believed "the dream of the 1990s is alive in Portland."

What elevated Portlandia beyond simple sketch comedy was its understanding that Portland's eccentricities were symptoms of larger cultural shifts. The show captured a particular moment in American culture when urban millennials were embracing localism, artisanal production, and alternative lifestyles - sometimes to comical extremes. A sketch about people needing to "put a bird on it" to make something artistic wasn't just about Portland; it was about the mass production of authenticity itself. The show's genius was recognizing that earnestness and absurdity could coexist, and that the people trying hardest to be different often ended up the most alike. By its final season, Portlandia had become less a regional satire and more a mirror held up to a certain type of educated, progressive, and deeply self-serious American culture that existed far beyond Portland's city limits.

"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. I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" A tweet from Donald J. Trump dated September 27, 2025, announced the deployment of troops to Portland and ICE facilities.

This announcement followed a previous designation of Antifa as a "major terrorist organization" by the Trump administration. The order came days after a shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas and amid ongoing protests at an ICE facility in Portland, which the administration characterized as being "under siege". Local leaders in Portland, including Governor Tina Kotek, criticized the deployment, stating that the city was not "war-ravaged" and did not require federal troops.

Recent protests in Portland, Oregon, primarily centered around the federal government's decision to send troops to the city to address demonstrations near Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities. Demonstrations have been ongoing, particularly in the vicinity of the ICE building in South Portland, protesting immigration policies and the presence of federal agents. While recent protests have been described as more muted and concentrated around the ICE facility, they draw comparisons to the widespread George Floyd protests in 2020, which also saw federal intervention and clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement.

In early June 2025 protests begin targeting the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Southwest Portland following federal immigration arrests in the city. From June 8 to\– June 13, 2025 Portland police initially cleared a barricade set up by protesters at the ICE building, but then Police Chief Bob Day states officers will no longer actively clear barricades or engage in activities perceived as supporting ICE transports. On 01 September 2025 a large protest culminates in a march to the ICE building, where federal officers deploy chemical agents and pepperballs as some protesters bring a makeshift guillotine.

On September 5, 2025 President Trump stated he is considering federal intervention in Portland due to the protests, describing the city as "war-ravaged". Oregon Governor Tina Kotek condemns these threats as "absurd, unlawful and un-American". On September 8, 2025 the U.S. Attorney's Office announces that 26 individuals have been charged with federal offenses related to activities at the ICE building since June.

On September 22, 2025 President Trump signed an executive order designating Antifa as a "major terrorist organization". and On September 25, 2025 Trump reiterates threats of sending additional federal law enforcement to Portland, describing protesters as "professional agitators and anarchists".

As of 28 September 2025, local media reported that despite Trump's order, the situation at the Portland ICE facility remains largely consistent with previous weeks, featuring small, mostly peaceful protests with occasional minor clashes or arrests. Portland residents, along with local and state officials, strongly rejected and criticized President Trump's description of the city as "war-ravaged." The portrayal was widely seen as inaccurate, inflammatory, and serving a political agenda rather than reflecting the reality of the city. Local news outlets like The Oregonian and The Stranger, often reflecting local sentiment, challenged the "war-ravaged" narrative by providing on-the-ground reports that characterized the protests at the ICE facility as relatively contained and involving smaller numbers of participants, rather than widespread chaos.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox "One of the things I've been dealing with all day here in Portland is a bunch of pansies that are elected into political office who won't make a decision to keep their citizens safe." State and local leaders — but only a few protesters — greeted Noem as she visited Portland and the ICE office that had been the site of recurring protests since June.

"I was in Portland yesterday and had the chance to visit with the governor of Oregon and also the mayor there in town and they are absolutely covering up the terrorism that is hitting their streets. ... These leaders in these local cities along with Pritzker and Johnson ignore what's going on or sir they're helping Antifa cover it up. We have arrested dozens of individuals that are Antifa members or affiliated with them and I want to thank our attorney general for prosecuting them and making sure they never see the light of day again. They have been so bold in making sure we're bringing those individuals to justice.

"One of the individuals we arrested recently in Portland was the girlfriend of one of the founders of Antifa. And we are hoping that as we go after her, interview her, and prosecute her, we will get more and more information about the network and how we can root them out and eliminate them from the existence of American society. I want to thank the journalists here today for telling their stories and for being able and willing to go to the streets and to cover what's happening here in America. Many times the legacy media has looked the other way, refused to tell the stories.

After meeting with the Portland mayor, Noem said that if the mayor did not meet some of her demands for more security at the ICE facility “we were going to send four times the amount of federal officers” to the city. On Jesse Watters Live 07 October 2025, she said " this mayor is going to wait until somebody gets violently hurt or killed,” she said. “He’s going to have blood on his hands because he sat around and thought too long, because he was too scared of the political ramifications of making a big decision to keep his city safe. Antifa-affiliated individuals are outside this building right now shouting death to my law enforcement officers while the mayor drives home and probably has a fancy dinner tonight and goes to sleep in his cushy bed. It’s just not acceptable."

During a visit 08 October 2025 to what the Trump administration deems a “war” ridden Portland, Noem, who has been dubbed as “ICE Barbie” over her lavish cosplay photo ops, toured an ICE facility along MAGA influencer, who continuously praised her over her crackdown on immigration. She met with local law enforcement officials, including Portland Police Chief Bob Day, Oregon State Police Superintendent Casey Codding and Multnomah County Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O’Donnell. As he praised Noem, MAGA influencer Benny Johnson posted a video on social media from the roof of the facility, saying they were staring down what he called an “army of antifa.” Despite his claims, only two small groups of protesters could be seen in the video, including a man in a chicken costume, an increasing trend among protesters to signal the viral acronym TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out).

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said 08 October 2025 “This is not a factual need on the ground in Oregon, to deploy any of the military in the National Guard, whether they’re from California or Texas or Oregon. This is a fundamental issue for our democracy — about what the control and the authority of the president is, and what the court says it is. The rule of law has to hold. ... This is a very unusual situation. I don’t think we’ve seen this anytime in our nation’s history, where federal agents are disregarding local law and are attacking people on the streets who are lawfully protesting. … What we’re seeing from the Trump administration is an abuse of power in how they’re dealing with lawful protests outside their facilities.... ."

While precise, real-time numbers can be difficult to ascertain, reports suggest that the recent protests in Portland, particularly around the ICE facility, have generally involved smaller numbers of participants compared to the larger demonstrations seen in 2020. The Stranger reported on September 28, 2025, that protests at the ICE facility "rarely exceeded a couple dozen people" who were largely peaceful, contrasting them with federal officers who allegedly made numerous attacks on protesters. The Guardian noted on September 27, 2025, that there were only "four protesters on the sidewalk near the ICE field office Trump claimed was 'under siege'" during a visit to downtown Portland.

Media coverage of President Trump's decision to send troops to Portland in September 2025 was largely split along political lines, with contrasting portrayals by conservative and liberal outlets. Conservative Media generally supported the decision, echoing the administration's stance that federal intervention was necessary to address lawlessness and protect federal facilities from "domestic terrorists" like Antifa, often describing Portland as "war-ravaged".

Liberal Media: Critiqued the deployment as an overreach of federal power and a political tactic, questioning the necessity of military intervention in what they described as a city not experiencing widespread "war-like" conditions. Many outlets, particularly those critical of the decision, highlighted Trump's authorization of "Full Force, if necessary," raising concerns about potential escalation and the use of military against civilians.

Oregon's Governor Tina Kotek and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson strongly condemned the deployment, stating that the city did not require or desire federal troops and that such actions could escalate tensions rather than resolve them. They argued that the portrayal of Portland as "war-ravaged" was inaccurate and served a political narrative.

Oregon on 28 September 2025 sued to block President Donald Trump’s order to deploy US troops to Portland, a day after the directive was issued. The move mirrors earlier deployments to Los Angeles and Washington, DC, opposed by local Democratic leaders, highlighting tensions over federal intervention in cities. The suit filed by Oregon and Portland authorities accused Trump of overreach, saying the move "was motivated by his desire to normalise the use of military troops for ordinary domestic law enforcement activity", particularly in jurisdictions run by his political opponents. Oregon authorities said there was no need for a National Guard deployment to Portland as – contrary to Trump's claims – the protests there against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been small-scale and peaceful.

The suit said the protests typically involve less than 30 people and have not required arrests since mid-June. "But (Trump's) heavyhanded deployment of troops threatens to escalate tensions and stokes new unrest," the suit said. Protesters in Portland and other cities had intermittently blocked entrances to ICE facilities in recent weeks, prompting some clashes as agents try to clear the area. Portland Mayor Keith Wilson called the deployment "unwanted, unneeded and un-American".

The appointment of Pete Hegseth as Secretary of War and his emphasis on a "warrior ethos" for the military were frequently mentioned, adding a layer to the discussions around the use of force domestically. Kristi Noem's involvement as Secretary of Homeland Security and her request for the troops were noted, often in conjunction with her known hardline stances on immigration and border security. Her past actions, such as deploying the National Guard to the US-Mexico border, were also referenced in the context of her support for Trump's policies.

The deployment of troops domestically, particularly in situations like the Trump administration's actions in Portland, sparked significant legal and constitutional debates, primarily centering on the Posse Comitatus Act and the Insurrection Act.

The Posse Comitatus Act, enacted in 1878, is a federal law that generally prohibits the use of federal military forces (Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force) for domestic law enforcement purposes, aiming to maintain the separation of military and civilian authority. Critics argued that deploying federal troops to intervene in civilian protests and enforce local laws, as seen in Los Angeles and proposed for Portland, directly violated the spirit and letter of this act, transforming the military into a domestic police force.

The Trump Administration contended that troops were primarily deployed to protect federal property and personnel, arguing this fell outside the scope of "domestic law enforcement" and thus did not violate the Posse Comitatus Act. However, a federal judge ruled in the Los Angeles case that the deployment did indeed violate the Act, finding that troops were engaged in core law enforcement activities.

The Insurrection Act, an exception to Posse Comitatus. is an amalgamation of laws passed between 1792 and 1871. It provides a statutory exception to the Posse Comitatus Act, allowing the President to deploy federal troops to suppress insurrections, domestic violence, or conspiracies that obstruct constitutional rights or federal laws, even without a state's request in certain circumstances.

While the Insurrection Act offers a legal avenue for domestic troop deployment, debates focused on whether the conditions in Portland (or other cities) truly met the high threshold of "insurrection" or "domestic violence" necessary to invoke the act, especially when local authorities opposed the deployment. Legal experts and state officials often argued that the situation did not warrant such extreme measures and that local law enforcement had not "completely broken down".

Notably, the Trump administration in some instances did not explicitly invoke the Insurrection Act, instead citing 10 U.S.C. § 12406 (which allows the President to call up the National Guard in certain situations related to rebellion) or a claimed inherent constitutional power to protect federal interests. This strategic avoidance of the Insurrection Act, which is more widely understood and potentially controversial, was also a point of legal discussion and scrutiny.

The legal debates also involved the Tenth Amendment, which reserves powers not delegated to the federal government to the states, raising questions about federal overreach when deploying troops without state consent. The President's authority to federalize the National Guard, particularly without gubernatorial consent, was another area of contention, with legal interpretations of 10 U.S.C. § 12406 being particularly debated.