WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Saturday authorised the deployment of troops in the northwestern US city of Portland and at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities, extending his contentious domestic use of the military.

The potential deployment in Portland — the largest city in Oregon — would follow similar moves by the Republican president to mobilise troops against the wishes of local Democratic leadership in Los Angeles and the capital Washington.

“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,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“I am also authorising Full Force, if necessary,” he added, without specifying what “full force” meant.

Portland has seen months of protests at a local ICE facility amid anger over the Trump administration’s crackdown on undocumented migrants. The city was also the scene of major clashes during Trump’s first term, at the height of racial justice protests following the May 2020 police killing of George Floyd.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2025