The state of Oregon and the city of Portland have launched legal action against the Trump administration to block its deployment of National Guard troops to the city.
The lawsuit, filed on Sunday in the U.S. District Court for Oregon, challenges President Donald Trump’s order to send federal troops to what he described as “war-ravaged Portland.” On Saturday, Trump announced he had instructed Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to provide “all necessary troops” and authorised their use of “full force, if necessary.”
According to the lawsuit, Hegseth subsequently issued a memorandum calling 200 members of the Oregon National Guard into federal service, a move the plaintiffs argue infringes on the state’s constitutional authority to control its own law enforcement and Guard resources.
Oregon officials accused the Trump administration of “federal overreach” based on “disinformation,” warning the deployment could worsen tensions rather than improve security.
“Defendants’ heavy-handed deployment of troops threatens to escalate tensions and stokes new unrest, meaning more of the Plaintiffs’ law enforcement resources will be spent responding to the predictable consequences,” the filing stated.
Trump has justified the move as necessary to quell long-running protests near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility. However, Oregon officials insist the situation does not warrant military intervention. They noted that fewer than 30 arrests have been made during the demonstrations, with none recorded since mid-June.
Governor Tina Kotek rejected Trump’s description of Portland as “under siege” by “domestic terrorists,” calling it “baseless” and “wildly hyperbolic.”
“There is no insurrection, there is no threat to national security and there is no need for military troops in our major city,” she told reporters. “The Oregon National Guard is here to protect Oregonians – but they are not needed in Portland.”
The lawsuit cites federal law that restricts the president’s authority to mobilise National Guardsmen to cases of foreign invasion, rebellion, or an inability to enforce U.S. law by conventional means. It also argues the move violates the 10th Amendment, which reserves policing powers for the states.
This is not the first legal challenge to Trump’s deployment of federal forces. Earlier this month, a judge ruled against the administration’s use of National Guard troops in Los Angeles, though the decision was temporarily stayed pending appeal.
Trump has also ordered deployments to other Democratic-led cities, including Memphis and Washington, D.C., prompting similar clashes over states’ rights.
