Oregon sues Trump over deployment of National Guard to ‘war-ravaged’ Portland

The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the District of Oregon, contends that Trump’s invocation of Title 10 to authorize Guard members for federal duties over the next 60 days is unconstitutional. Oregon argues the move violates the Posse Comitatus Act and the 10th Amendment, which limit the federal government’s power to deploy military forces domestically without specific circumstances such as invasion or insurrection.

Governor Tina Kotek, Attorney General Rayfield, and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson condemned the order during a press conference. Kotek said Trump’s move was “an abuse of power and a disservice to our communities and our service members.”

“There is no insurrection or threat to public safety that necessitates military intervention in Portland or any other city in our state,” Kotek said. “Our city is a far cry from the war-ravaged community he has posted on social media.”

Mayor Wilson condemned the Guard’s arrival: “We did not ask for them to come. They are here without precedent or purpose.”

Even as hundreds of rioters assembled at the ICE facility in Portland again, after over 90 nights of riots, Rayfield claimed, “Oregon communities are stable, and our local officials have been clear: we have the capacity to manage public safety without federal interference. This is about defending both the Constitution and the rights of Oregonians. We won’t allow the federal government to turn our communities into a political stage.”

The lawsuit seeks a preliminary injunction to block the order, arguing that Trump’s claims of Portland being ungovernable are “false and fictional.” Officials confirmed plans also to file a temporary restraining order within 24 hours.

Governor Kotek revealed she exchanged text messages with the president on Sunday morning, in which she strongly opposed the Title 10 order. “It’s unclear what the mission is, and when you don’t have a clear idea of what the mission is, you don’t know when it will end,” she said.

Trump, meanwhile, defended his action in a Truth Social post Saturday, writing that he had directed federal officials to send “all necessary Troops to protect war-ravaged Portland, and any other ICE facilities under siege from attack by Antifa and other domestic terrorists.”

Despite Kotek’s objections, federal agents began arriving in Portland over the weekend, with one clash already reported outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.

Oregon’s lawsuit follows a similar legal battle earlier this year between California and the Trump administration. In Newsom v. Trump, US District Judge Charles Breyer ruled that Trump’s deployment of the California National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles violated the Posse Comitatus Act by assigning troops to crowd control and other civilian law enforcement functions. He issued an injunction blocking the federal order, though the Ninth Circuit quickly stayed it pending appeal, allowing the deployments to continue. The case has not yet reached the US Supreme Court, but it established a significant legal precedent that Oregon may rely on, especially concerning federal overreach under Title 10 and the limits imposed by the 10th Amendment.