Trump to deploy troops to Portland to protect ICE facilities

President Donald Trump said Saturday he would send U.S. troops to Portland, Oregon, authorizing "Full Force, if necessary," and directing the Defense Department to provide "all necessary troops" to protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities, the president wrote on social media. The announcement expands a series of controversial federal deployments to American cities amid ongoing protests and unrest.

The White House did not immediately provide details on a timeline, the number or type of troops to be deployed, or the legal authorities that would be used, and the Pentagon had not responded to requests for information, officials said. In social media posts and comments, Trump framed the move as necessary to protect ICE facilities he described as "under siege" from Antifa and "other domestic terrorists," and to confront what he has called the radical left.

Administration officials have pointed to a string of violent incidents and demonstrations in Portland, where an ICE facility has repeatedly been targeted and federal agents have at times clashed with protesters. Department of Homeland Security officials have described recent scenes as alarming; when demonstrators...