Trump Sending Troops To Portland To Protect ICE Facilities Amid Antifa Threat

President Donald Trump announced Saturday his administration is sending troops to Portland to protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities from attacks by militant far-left network Antifa, which the president recently designated as a major terrorist organization.

Trump indicated in a Saturday morning post to Truth Social he was 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.” The order follows a request by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem, Trump noted.

“I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary,” the president added in his social media post.

“We stand ready to mobilize U.S. military personnel in support of DHS operations in Portland at the President’s direction,” the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, Sean Parnell, said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF). “The Department will provide information and updates as they become available.”

“President Trump and Secretary Noem are taking action to restore law and order following weeks of violent riots at ICE facilities, assaults on law enforcement, and the terrorist attack at our ICE facility in Dallas,” DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to the DCNF. “We are not going to allow domestic terrorists to attack our law enforcement. DHS has already arrested dozens of Antifa-aligned left-wing violent extremists who have attacked law enforcement, murdered innocent civilians, and launched a wave of violent riots throughout the Unites States.”

“We will not allow Antifa domestic terrorists to deter us in our mission to make America safe, and those who try will be held accountable,” McLaughlin added.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem speaks during an event where U.S. President Donald Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum in the Oval Office on September 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

A White House official gave the DCNF a list of over a half-dozen separate instances of violent left-wing protests in Portland between June and September, alleging some of the protesters were linked to Antifa and others to a group funded by billionaire George Soros’s Open Society. The incidents cited by the official included arson, the assault of law enforcement officers and apparently threatening an ICE facility with a guillotine.

The White House official also alleged multiple Oregon Democrats, including Gov. Tina Kotek and Multnomah County Senior Judge Ellen Rosenblum, refused to adequately respond to the threat of left-wing violence in Portland.

Trump announced in a Sept. 17 Truth Social post he was designating Antifa, which he called a “DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER,” [sic] as “A MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.” The move followed a series of violent attacks over recent years committed by individuals and groups with ties to left-wing ideology. (RELATED: Antifa Cop Fired Over Insane Social Media Posts)

A Friday press release from DHS stated the department has, in recent months, “arrested dozens of Antifa-aligned left-wing violent extremists who have attacked law enforcement, murdered innocent civilians, and launched a wave of violent riots throughout the United States.”

“Rioters in Portland, Oregon have repeatedly attacked and laid siege to an ICE processing center,” the DHS press release notes. It also specified three cases of anti-ICE violence in the city — which all occurred in late June 2025 — just weeks after rampant riots against the immigration enforcement agency erupted in Los Angeles.

Portland, widely considered a bastion of left-wing politics, has elected Democratic mayors since 1993. Furthermore, its 12-member city council is entirely controlled by the same political party.

The Portland-based Rose City Antifa, one of the oldest active Antifa groups in the country, took credit in 2019 for brutally attacking journalist Andy Ngo while he was reporting on a rally by the group. The attack left Ngo — known for his coverage of left-wing violence — with a brain hemorrhage.

“Rose City Antifa also illegally doxed ICE officers, publishing their private information and home address online and on public flyers. Individuals associated with Antifa also sent death threats to ICE agents and DHS personnel,” the Friday DHS press release noted.

Editor’s note: This report was updated with comment from The White House.

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