(Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday said he was directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to send troops to Portland, Oregon and to protect federal immigration facilities against “domestic terrorists”, saying he was authorizing them to use “full force, if necessary.”
“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 said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Portland’s mayor, Keith Wilson, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a press conference on Friday, Wilson said an apparent influx of federal officers did not come at the request of the city, and called it an overreach and a distraction.
On Thursday, Trump told reporters that “crazy people” were trying to burn buildings in Portland. “They’re professional agitators and anarchists,” he said, without providing evidence.
Trump has made crime a major focus of his administration even as violent crime rates have fallen in many U.S. cities. His crackdown on Democratic-led municipalities including Los Angeles and Washington has fueled legal concerns and spurred protests.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren and Kristina Cooke, editing by Caitlin Webber, Sergio Non and Bill Berkrot)
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