In the wake of President Donald Trump’s surprise call to deploy federal troops to Portland, the state’s political leaders took a polite but firm approach Saturday, saying in effect: No thanks, we got this.
The president’s announcement — made on social media — promised to provide “all necessary troops” to protect the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement base in South Portland. It landed with a thud for local leaders and law enforcement, who said the intrusion was likely to agitate and escalate, rather than calm tensions.
“The number of necessary troops is zero in Portland,” Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said during a Saturday afternoon press conference.
Black-clad protesters have camped on the sidewalks outside the ICE office for more than 115 days and nights, at times colliding chaotically with federal officers wearing camo or riot gear.
The ragtag demonstration, spurred by Trump’s actions in Los Angeles and arrests at Portland’s federal immigration court in early June, has largely subsided into a simmering but stable occupation of sorts in a quiet area south of downtown that also features apartment buildings, a Tesla dealership and a ballet school.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek revealed that she had spoken with Trump on the phone to express her displeasure with the troop deployment, of which she was not informed in advance.
“I conveyed that directly to him — that we got this. We are good. We are doing fine,” Kotek said. “Any federal takeover with military troops in our state is a threat to communities across Oregon. It violates our right to govern ourselves.”
The president replied, “Let’s keep talking,” according to Kotek.
[WATCH: Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek responds to Trump sending troops to Portland]
It’s not clear if Trump will make good on his threats to send federalized troops from the National Guard to Portland. Similar promises to flood the zone in Chicago failed to materialize, while a much ballyhooed deployment to Memphis, Tennessee ended up sending out only 150 officers.
But hackles have been rising this week, especially following the sniper attack on an ICE facility in Dallas, which killed one detainee and injured others.
On Friday, protesters spotted several U.S. Department of Homeland Security vehicles carrying groups of plainclothes officers out of the fortified ICE facility, leading the mayor to warn of an “sudden influx” of federal forces late Friday.
Trump has been increasingly fixated on Portland based on conservative news reports, calling out the city at least three times publicly in recent weeks for allegedly allowing “anarchy” to reign and likening the city to “living in hell.”
Those reports have focused on moments of anger, as protesters hurl insults whenever federal officers emerge. The amplified sounds of the encampment prompted a lawsuit seeking to force the city to enforce its noise ordinance, but the litigation was shot down by a judge last month.
The situation remained unroiled Saturday afternoon, as a handful of people gathered with signs and elicited honks from passing drivers on South Macadam Avenue.
Katie McLain, 41, said she headed to the area to see what was happening for herself, but ended up joining the picketing.
“I think that this announcement is going to cause the violence that they’re saying is already here,” she said of the president’s statement. “Nobody wants this here.”
Portland police made about 25 arrests during the early days of the protest but largely have stopped responding to the area, saying Oregon’s sanctuary law prohibits them from enforcing federal immigration matters. Federal prosecutors have also announced about 25 cases against demonstrators, some of whom are accused of assaulting officers with fists or weapons.
Kotek said Trump has made no official move so far to federalize the Oregon National Guard and hasn’t requested support from the Oregon State Police either.
Highlighting how the press conference was taking place in a sun-dappled rather than war-ravaged park, Kotek asked residents not to “take the bait” from the president’s fiery rhetoric.
“If you want to stand in opposition to the Trump administration, I would ask that you lean in to support your community,” Kotek said. “We have to raise our voices, absolutely peacefully, to the things that we believe in.”
Portland police Chief Bob Day noted that local officers facilitated an estimated crowd of 10,000 protesters who marched through downtown without incident on Labor Day.
“We have had an amazing year of free speech, expression, and I have no doubt that will continue,” Day said. “We are in support of peace for Portland.”
The Oregonian/OregonLive reporters Tatum Todd, Noelle Crombie, Allison Barr and Fedor Zarkhin contributed to this article.
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