President Donald Trump directed Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth to deploy “all necessary troops” to Portland, Oregon, after fiery anti-ICE protests rocked the city this week.
The president said he’s authorizing “full force, if necessary” to protect the city and the ICE facilities there from attacks and confrontations by left-wing “domestic terrorists.”
“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,” he posted on Truth Social.
Trump said he deployed the troops at DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s request.
The order comes after attacks on ICE agents prompted Attorney General Pam Bondi to deploy agents from the Department of Justice to protect ICE facilities.
“At my direction, I am deploying DOJ agents to ICE facilities—and wherever ICE comes under siege—to safeguard federal agents, protect federal property, and immediately arrest all individuals engaged in any federal crime,” Bondi said in a post on X.
A shooting at a Dallas ICE field office this week raised awareness to the threats facing the immigration officers. The attack killed a detainee and left two others in critical condition.
Noem blamed the attack on “hateful rhetoric.”
“People don’t write anti-ICE messages on ammunition and open fire on law enforcement facilities because they like ICE. This violence is directly fueled by hateful rhetoric. It must end now,” she wrote on X earlier this week.
The president and other Republicans have criticized members of the “radical left” for encouraging, carrying out, and celebrating political violence.
Trump suggested on Thursday that he may intervene in Portland.
“We’re going to get out there and we’re going to do a pretty big number on those people in Portland,” he said. The president describing some of them as “professional agitators and anarchists.”
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson warned against additional ICE agents coming to the city on Friday.
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“Like other mayors across the country, I have not asked for — and do not need — federal intervention,” he said.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the White House, DHS, ICE, and the Department of War for comment, but did not receive a response.