Democratic officials in Oregon and Portland charge against troop deployments

Portland’s Democratic mayor, Keith Wilson, on Saturday blasted Donald Trump's plan to send troops to the city to bolster security at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities and target what he called “domestic terrorists,” referring to Antifa. The governor of Oregon, Tina Kotek, assured that she is in direct talks with the president, trying to make clear that “there is no insurrection” in the city

The number of military troops needed in Portland and any other U.S. city is zero. "We don't need any intervention. It's not a military target. If President Trump came to Portland today, what he would find is people riding bikes, playing sports, enjoying the sunshine, buying groceries and produce from a farmers' market."

The attack images "were recycled and then recycled again"

According to Wilson, the images of vandals attacking ICE facilities "were from five years ago" and that they "were recycled and then recycled again" to make it look like they were current. "We've had difficult conversations, and we've done important work in the years since that footage was taken, reforming our public safety system. We have refocused on our community and our economy, and we have redoubled our efforts to help our most vulnerable."

In addition, the mayor noted that the president should send "hundreds of engineers, or teachers, or outreach workers" to Portland instead of a "brief, expensive and fruitless show of force."

"I am deeply disappointed with the irresponsibility of the federal government"

“I am deeply disappointed in the irresponsibility of the federal government. At the end of the day, this may be a show of force, but that’s all it is. It’s a big spectacle, and after the spectacle, everyone goes home. That’s what I want to see happen here in Portland today. We have a long and proud tradition of peaceful protest. We have a long and proud history of leading the way in positive social change.”

Wilson also fell back on the warmongering rhetoric of other Democratic decision-makers by saying that the troop deployment was "against" citizens, rather than aimed at fighting crime: "Today there are new risks, risks we don't yet fully understand. The Administration has refused to elaborate on what they mean when they say they will deploy their full force against our city and our citizens."

Trump spoke only of defending ICE facilities and fighting "domestic terrorists"

However, Trump's statement only mentions protecting ICE facilities "under siege by Antifa attacks and other domestic Terrorist groups."

Wilson already came out a few days ago to announce that he had forwarded to ICE a notice of "land use violations" for detaining illegals. According to Wilson, the immigration facility in the city is not authorized to hold detainees in custody for more than 12 hours, something it would have done on about 25 occasions since October 2024, according to the city's data analysis. This would allow local authorities to force ICE to relocate if the facility does not investigate and respond for violations.

"There is no insurrection. No threat to national security"

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, a Democrat, joined Wilson's arguments, albeit in a more serene tone. In an X post, Kotek assured that she is talking directly to Donald Trump and Kristi Noem to try to make them see that "there is no insurrection. There is no national security threat" in Portland.