Trump to ship troops to Portland and Memphis. Listed below are 3 issues to know : NPR

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Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Photographs President Trump says he has ordered the deployment of troops to Portland, Ore., and that he is licensed them to make use of "full power" to curb protests outdoors of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement amenities.

It is the most recent occasion of Trump deploying the army to varied cities that he says are plagued with crime, with federal troops additionally anticipated to reach in Memphis, Tenn., this week.

We break down what is going on on, how officers in Portland and Memphis are responding, and the way this matches into a bigger image.

1. Anticipate one other authorized struggle Like lots of Trump's bulletins, the Portland push began with a submit on Saturday on his social media platform, Reality Social. He known as Portland "battle ravaged" — which isn't the case on the bottom there — and mentioned he had licensed the Pentagon to supply troops.

"I'm directing Secretary of Conflict, Pete Hegseth, to supply all crucial Troops to guard Conflict ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Services below siege from assault by Antifa, and different home terrorists," Trump wrote within the submit. "I'm additionally authorizing Full Pressure, if crucial."

It was unclear from that submit what troops he meant. NPR reached out to the Pentagon for readability on Saturday, and a U.S. official who was not licensed to talk publicly mentioned the Pentagon had not issued a deployment order for Portland and that it solely discovered of Trump's request from the media. That official additionally mentioned it could be probably that Nationwide Guard troops can be used.

All of this comes after there have been reviews of a ramp-up of federal officers at an ICE facility in Portland on Friday, which Mayor Keith Wilson known as a present of power and instructed residents to stay calm and never react.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3881x2587+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff7%2Fe4%2Fcd309e4647f6944f1bbab49e26d7%2Fgettyimages-2237687579.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3881x2587+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff7%2Fe4%2Fcd309e4647f6944f1bbab49e26d7%2Fgettyimages-2237687579.jpg" class="img" alt="Federal agents confront protesters outside of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building on September 28, 2025 in Portland, Oregon." loading="lazy"/> Federal brokers confront protesters outdoors of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement constructing on September 28, 2025 in Portland, Oregon. Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Photographs cover caption

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Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Photographs By Sunday, Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) reported that the Trump administration known as 200 members of the Oregon Nationwide Guard into federal service for a 60-day deployment, based on a memo from the Division of Protection to Governor Tina Kotek. And tons of of protestors gathered outdoors Portland's ICE facility late into Sunday night time.

Each the governor of Oregon and the mayor of Portland dispute Trump's claims that town is unsafe or in want of troops, and have been urging residents to stay peaceable. OPB reported Sunday that Oregon's high officers and town of Portland have been submitting a federal lawsuit arguing the administration had overreached and acted unlawfully. In a press convention Saturday, Mayor Keith Wilson mentioned the required troops wanted for town is zero.

"That is an American metropolis. We don't want any intervention. This isn't a army goal," he mentioned.

2. Trump has been making these sorts of threats for months In D.C., the place Trump has federal management, greater than 2,000 Nationwide Guard troops from quite a lot of states have been deployed for greater than a month in what Trump has mentioned is an effort to crack down on crime.

Again in June, Trump additionally federalized California's Nationwide Guard in opposition to Governor Gavin Newsom's needs and deployed them together with the Marines to Los Angeles to quell protests in opposition to ICE deportations there. That sounds much like what may occur in Portland.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6000x4000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fc7%2F5b%2F36cb151949e48e03ac2c3e08072c%2Fgettyimages-2237531311.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6000x4000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fc7%2F5b%2F36cb151949e48e03ac2c3e08072c%2Fgettyimages-2237531311.jpg" class="img" alt="In a Truth Social post on Saturday, President Trump said he authorized the deployment of military troops to Portland." loading="lazy"/> In a Reality Social submit on Saturday, President Trump mentioned he licensed the deployment of army troops to Portland. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Photographs cover caption

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Kevin Dietsch/Getty Photographs After which there are a handful of cities that Trump has threatened — a couple of dozen at this level, all Democratically-led. Locations like Chicago, the place he additionally used the battle metaphor however has but to truly ship troops.

Earlier this month, Trump posted on-line that Chicago was "about to seek out out why it is known as the Division of WAR," referencing his name to rename the Protection Division.

After which there may be Memphis. Trump has licensed the usage of the Nationwide Guard there as a part of an identical crackdown, together with different federal brokers who're all anticipated to begin arriving as early as this week.

The Trump administration has described Memphis as "affected by large ranges of violent crime which have overwhelmed its native authorities's capability to reply successfully."

Memphis, which is the second largest metropolis in Tennessee, is run by a Democratic mayor. In the meantime, Republican Tennessee Governor Invoice Lee has mentioned he not solely welcomed federal help, however that he has been in "fixed communication" with the Trump administration for months a couple of plan to curb crime in Memphis utilizing federal and state sources.

3. A bigger image is turning into clear The Nationwide Guard shouldn't be skilled for neighborhood policing or to make arrests, and that is not how they're usually used. In D.C., they've primarily been patrolling federal property and beautifying metropolis parks.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5392x3592+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F32%2F26%2F51dd7cc448d79e2721ce923b1616%2Fgettyimages-2235530276.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5392x3592+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F32%2F26%2F51dd7cc448d79e2721ce923b1616%2Fgettyimages-2235530276.jpg" class="img" alt="National Guard members weed an area as they clean up a park near in Washington, DC, on September 18." loading="lazy"/> Nationwide Guard members weed an space as they clear up a park close to in Washington, DC, on September 18. Jim Watson/AFP through Getty Photographs cover caption

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Jim Watson/AFP through Getty Photographs But Trump says these Nationwide Guard deployments are to take care of crime. And he additionally has been conflating the work of troops with wider immigration and deportation efforts. We have seen that in D.C., for instance, the place ICE brokers moved in together with the Nationwide Guard deployment and began detaining folks at excessive charges.

Authorized specialists have additionally mentioned that one other a part of this that has them frightened is the normalization of troops — typically armed — on U.S. streets.

The U.S. has a protracted historical past of limiting the function of the army domestically, and specialists say these sorts of continued threats and deployments problem legal guidelines which might be centuries previous and central to the concepts that the U.S. was based on.

We've got unpacked extra about what specialists inform us on this piece, and you will discover extra of our protection on this wider problem right here: