A federal judge on Saturday temporarily blocked U.S. President Donald Trump from deploying 200 Oregon National Guard troops to Portland, dealing a setback to the White House’s efforts to send military forces into cities run by Democratic officials.
U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, who was appointed by Trump, issued an injunction preventing the deployment until October 18, saying there was no evidence that recent demonstrations in the city amounted to a rebellion or severely hindered law enforcement.
“The President’s determination was simply untethered to the facts,” Immergut wrote in her ruling. She added that accepting Trump’s interpretation of the law would allow a president to “send military troops virtually anywhere at any time” and risk blurring “the line between civil and military federal power — to the detriment of this nation.”
The decision came after Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield sued the administration on September 28, seeking to block Trump’s move to send troops to “protect federal immigration facilities from domestic terrorists.” The state argued the deployment violated the 10th Amendment and several federal laws governing the use of state National Guard units.
Oregon’s lawsuit claimed that Trump exaggerated the scale of protests in Portland, citing Fox News footage from 2020 that showed far larger demonstrations. In recent months, state attorneys said, Portland protests were “small and sedate,” resulting in only 25 arrests in June and none since mid-June.
The White House said it would appeal the ruling.
“President Trump exercised his lawful authority to protect federal assets and personnel in Portland following violent riots and attacks on law enforcement — we expect to be vindicated by a higher court,” said spokeswoman Abigail Jackson.
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson dismissed the president’s characterization of the city as “war ravaged,” telling reporters that the narrative “was manufactured.”
The ruling marks the latest legal challenge to Trump’s attempts to send military forces into Democratic-led cities, including Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Earlier this month, a federal court in California blocked a similar deployment, though that decision is under appeal.
On Saturday, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a Democrat, said Trump was also preparing to send 300 National Guard troops to Chicago, despite his objections.
Immergut concluded that Oregon was likely to succeed in its argument that Trump’s order unlawfully seized control of state troops and violated the state’s sovereign rights.
The case continues as part of a broader political and legal clash over the limits of presidential power to use the military for domestic law enforcement — a principle long resisted by both parties.
