United States President Donald Trump on Saturday announced that he has directed the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defence to deploy troops to Portland. Taking to Truth Social, Trump emphasised the need to send all necessary forces to “protect war-ravaged Portland” and defend US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities under threat from Antifa and other domestic groups. He also authorised the use of full force if required to restore order. Trump’s order comes at the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem.
Trump wrote on Truth Social, “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. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
In his post, Trump has sought protection of ICE facilities from Antifa, a group that he recently designated as a major terrorist organisation. He had described the group as “a sick, dangerous, radical left disaster.” Trump’s strongly worded statement underscored his administration’s hardline stance against left-wing activism. Antifa is a left-wing anti-fascist and anti-racist political movement in the United States. It consists of a highly decentralised network of autonomous groups that may use nonviolent direct action, and in some cases, violence to achieve their objectives.
Trump had earlier talked about violence in Portland, stating that “crazy people” in the region were trying to burn down buildings there. “That’s a small example, but it’s the most violent example. It’s every night, and they’ve done it for years. You think maybe at some point they made their point and what are they doing? But we’re going to get out there and we’re going to do a pretty big number of those people in Portland that are doing that. They’re professional agitators and anarchists. They’re actually anarchist,” said Trump.
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