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President Donald Trump has ordered hundreds of California National Guard troops into Oregon, defying a federal court order and igniting new legal and political battles with Democratic governors who accuse the White House of abusing military power for political ends.
At least 200 federalized California National Guard members arrived in Oregon overnight into Sunday, officials confirmed, as California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield filed an emergency motion to block the deployment.
“The Trump Administration claimed that California National Guard troops were urgently needed to maintain peace in Los Angeles — yet it is sending the entirety of the remaining troops to Oregon without hesitation,” Bonta said.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said roughly 100 troops arrived Saturday night at Camp Withycombe near Portland and that another 99 were on the way. “We have received no official notification or correspondence from the federal government,” Kotek said. “This action appears intentional to circumvent yesterday’s ruling by a federal judge.”
That ruling, issued late Saturday by U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, temporarily blocked the administration from deploying any National Guard troops to Portland. The judge said that while the city had seen small protests outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility, the federal government had not demonstrated any insurrection or threat that would justify military intervention.
“The facts haven’t changed,” Kotek said. “There is no need for military intervention in Oregon. There is no insurrection in Portland. No threat to national security. Oregon is our home, not a military target.”
Governors Push Back
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the 300 California Guard troops deployed to Oregon had already been federalized under Trump’s earlier order related to unrest in Los Angeles. Newsom, who was not consulted on the redeployment, called the move “a breathtaking abuse of the law and power.”
“The commander-in-chief is using the U.S. military as a political weapon against American citizens,” Newsom said. “We will take this fight to court, but the public cannot stay silent in the face of such reckless and authoritarian conduct.”
Newsom and Bonta confirmed that California will sue the administration for unlawfully reassigning its troops without state consent, joining Oregon’s ongoing legal effort.
Attorney General Rayfield said during a virtual press conference that the deployment “violates state sovereignty and the police powers reserved to the states under the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.”
“What was unlawful yesterday is unlawful today,” Rayfield said. “The judge’s order was not some minor procedural point for the president to work around.”
White House Defends Move
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson defended Trump’s decision, calling it “a lawful and necessary measure to protect federal personnel and assets in Portland following violent riots and attacks on law enforcement.”
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told CBS News that “at the direction of the president,” approximately 200 California National Guard troops were “federalized and reassigned to support ICE and other federal agencies.”
Administration officials said the troops will assist with “security operations” around federal buildings and immigration facilities in Portland.
The move marks the latest in a series of aggressive military interventions in U.S. cities. Since the start of his second term, Trump has either deployed or threatened to deploy troops to 10 American cities, including Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and now Portland.
Just one day earlier, Trump authorized the federalization of 300 Illinois National Guard members after Gov. JB Pritzker refused to deploy them himself, calling the request “un-American and unconstitutional.”
Legal and Political Fallout
The legal standoff could quickly escalate. The temporary restraining order issued by Judge Immergut remains in effect through October 18, barring further deployments unless overturned by a higher court.
White House officials have already signaled an appeal. “We expect to be vindicated by a higher court,” Jackson said late Saturday.
For the states involved, however, the situation underscores deepening fears that the Trump administration is eroding state control over their own guard units — a cornerstone of federalism.
“The president is treating states as military provinces,” Newsom said. “That’s not how America works.”
