3 things to know about Trump’s plan to send troops to Portland and Memphis

President Trump says he has the efforts of troops in Portland, Ore. Has ordered them, and that he authorized them to use “full strength” to curb protests outside the American immigration and customs enforcement facilities.

It is the last copy that Trump uses the army in various cities that he says they are being plagued by crime, in which federal troops are also expected to be in Memphis this week.

We break what is going on, how civil servants in Portland and Memphis react and how this fits in a larger image.

1. Expect another legal fight

Like many of Trump’s announcements, the Portland -Push started on Saturday with a message on his social media platform, Truth Social. He called Portland “War destroyed” – that is not the case on the ground there – And said he had authorized the Pentagon to offer troops.

“I direct Minister of War, Pete Hegseeth, to offer all the necessary troops to protect Portland’s war, and all our ice facilities that are besieged by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists,” Trump wrote in the post. “I also authorize the full power, if necessary.”

It was unclear from that post which troops he meant. NPR reached for clarity to the Pentagon on Saturday, and an American officer who was not authorized to speak publicly said that the Pentagon had not spent not a deployment order for Portland and that it only heard of Trump’s request from the media. That official also said it would be likely that troops of the National Guard would be used.

All this comes after there were reports about a rise by federal officers in an ice facility in Portland on Friday, who called mayor Keith Wilson a show of violence and told residents to stay calm and not to respond.

Federal agents confront protesters outside the American immigration and customs enforcement building on 28 September 2025 in Portland, Oregon.

Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty images

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Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty images

By Sunday, Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) reported that the Trump administration Call 200 members of the Oregon National Guard in the federal service For a 60-day commitment, according to a memo from the Ministry of Defense to Governor Tina Kotek. And hundreds of demonstrators gathered late on Sunday evening outside the ice facility of Portland.

Both the Governor of Oregon and the mayor of Portland contest the claims of Trump that the city is unsafe or needs troops and encourages residents to remain peaceful. OPB reported on Sunday that the senior officials of Oregon and the city of Portland were Submitting a federal lawsuit with the argument that the administration had transferred and had acted illegally. In a press conference on Saturday, Mayor Keith Wilson said that the necessary troops needed for the city are zero.

“This is an American city. We don’t need an intervention. This is not a military target,” he said.

2. Trump has been making these kinds of threats for months

In DC, where Trump has federal control, more than 2,000 national guard troops from different states have been deployed for more than a month in what Trump has said is an attempt to combat crime.

In June, Trump also federalized the National Guard of California against the wishes of Governor Gavin Newsom and used them together with the Marines in Los Angeles to suppress protests against ice deposits there. That sounds similar to what could happen in Portland.

In a social post truth on Saturday, President Trump said that he gave the use of military troops in Portland permission.

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Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

And then there are a handful of cities that Trump has threatened a dozen at the moment, all democratically led. Places such as Chicago, where he also used the war metaphor, but still has to send troops.

Earlier this month, Trump posted online that Chicago “was about to find out why it is called the Ministry of War”, referring to his call to rename the Ministry of Defense.

And then there is Memphis. Trump has authorized the use of the National Guard there as part of a similar performance, together with other federal agents who are expected to arrive this week.

The Trump government has described Memphis as “suffering from huge levels of violent crime that overwhelmed the ability of its local government to respond effectively”. “

Memphis, the second largest city in Tennessee, is run by a democratic mayor. In the meantime, the Republican governor of Tennessee, Bill Lee, has said that he not only welcomed federal help, but that he has been in “constant communication” for months with the Trump government to curb crime in Memphis with the help of federal and national resources.

3. A larger image becomes clear

The National Guard is not trained for Community Police or to make arrests, and that is not how they are generally used. In DC they mainly have patroling of federal property and embellished city parks.

Members of the National Garde weed an area while on September 18 they clean up a park near Washington, DC.

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Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

Nevertheless, Trump says that this national guard must deal with crime. And he also combined the work of troops with broad immigration and deportation efforts. For example, we saw that in DC, where IJs officers came in with the efforts of the National Guard and started holding people with high rates.

Legal experts have also said that another part of this that makes them worries, is the standardization of troops – sometimes armed – in American streets.

The US has a long history of limiting the role of the army in the interior, and experts say that these kinds of continuous threats and implementations challenge laws that are centuries old and are central to the ideas on which the US was established.

We have unpacked more about what experts tell us in this piece, and you can find more of our coverage about this broader issue here: