- Security installation aims to protect federal immigration facilities.
- Trump says ice facilities are under siege from ‘domestic terrorists’.
- Trump has made crime a major focus in his administration.
US President Donald Trump on Saturday said he instructed defense secretary Pete Hegeth to send troops to Portland, Oregon and to protect federal immigration facilities from “domestic terrorists” and said he approved them to use “full strength if needed.”
“At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, I lead by war secretary, Pete Hegeth, to give all the necessary troops to protect the war that ravaged Portland, and any of our ice facilities during siege against attacks by antifa and other domestic terrorists,” Trump said in a post on his truth’s social platform.
Portland’s mayor, Keith Wilson, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. At a press conference on Friday, Wilson said a apparent influx of federal officers did not come upon the request of the city and called it an overreaction and a distraction.
On Thursday, Trump told journalists that “crazy people” tried to burn buildings in Portland. “They are professional agitators and anarchists,” he said without providing evidence.
Trump has made crime a major focus in his administration, even as violent crime rates have fallen into many US cities. His crashes on democratic -led municipalities, including Los Angeles and Washington, have given rise to legal concerns and spurred protests.
