As President Donald Trump plans to send 200 National Guard troops to War ravaged" Portland, some local comedians and online posters poked fun at how the city feels like anything but a war zone.
"Dearest Mother the battle for Portland rages on, coffee shops reduced to rubble and kale supplies running dangerously low," one redditor wrote in the /r/oregon community. "Morale remains strong though as the troops discovered an endless stockpile of craft beer and artisan donuts to fuel the fight."
Trump caused a deadly serious stir throughout the Pacific Northwest over the weekend, after announcing a plan to deploy troops to protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices in Portland.
"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," Trump posted to Truth Social on Saturday. "I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary."
Washington and Oregon's elected officials denounced the decision. Some, like Portland-based comedian Rachelle Cochran, have reacted with a smirk and an eyeroll.
"In Portland, we don't roll out in tanks," Cochran said in a video response with over 100,000 views. "We roll out in Subaru Outbacks plastered with 'coexist' stickers."
Cochran said her video was meant to poke holes in Trump's claims about the city, while also making a joke about Portland stereotypes.
"I just could not believe that he wanted to send the National Guard to Portland, (expletive) Oregon," she said. "It's like the most docile place ever."
Cochran said the city isn't the "hellhole" some people, including the president, seem to think it is. She said the city is a safe place.
In a news conference last week, Mayor Keith Wilson echoed other Oregonian leaders who said the Portland of 2025 is much different from the Portland where nightly protests against police brutality roiled downtown five years ago.
"This is an American city," the mayor said. "We do not need any intervention. This is not a military target. The president will not find lawlessness or violence here. I've been so deeply disappointed to see the footage from a half-decade ago recycled and then recycled again. If President Trump came to Portland today, what he would find is people riding their bikes."
During the first half of 2025, homicides in Portland dropped 51% compared to the same time period last year, the "steepest drop in violent crime among all 68 participating U.S. agencies," according to the mayor's office.
Wilson, meanwhile, doesn't see a city with zero serious issues. He ran on a platform to aggressively address the city's longstanding homelessness crisis.
Some posters on Threads made jokes about the city's calmness.
"Please send help," one poster wrote. "Stuck at a four-way intersection in Portland with three Subarus and nobody wants to go first! #Dept of War"
Posters on Reddit and Threads took to writing letters home from a city supposedly at war.
"Dearest Mother, the federal troops have arrived, dressed in camo that clashes terribly with our muralled food carts and rainbow crosswalks," one said. "They seem confused — perhaps they mistook our vegan potlucks for tactical gatherings."
Seattle-based TikToker Spencer Earl took to TikTok to mimic a National Guard officer radioing another about the city’s less-than-serious conditions.
"Someone’s performatively reading a book," Earl's character said. "Call in an air strike."
"OK, everyone’s white," he radioed, in the now-viral video. "Do we just go after people with different color hair?"
Earl spent much of his childhood in Portland visiting family and believes Trump's perception is inaccurate.
"So (the National Guard is) being sent in for extremist violence. But in reality, nothing's happening, nothing crazy is happening," he said. "And it's frustrating to see like this hallucination cause real violence and harm to people."
While he joked about Trump's decision in a recent stand-up set, Seattle comedian Bo Johnson thinks it can cause real harm to the city.
"I think that misrepresentation that some people are going to construe as the truth does have a real harm and danger to it," he said. "(A real impact on the city) does exist, and that might mean less people go to Portland and spend less money going out to the food scene there, like it might have a financial impact and real implications.
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