Oregon — President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy federal troops to Portland has drawn sharply different reactions from Oregon’s political leaders and business community. Oregon’s top Democrats were quick to condemn the President’s order yesterday. Governor Tina Kotek, Attorney General Dan Rayfield, Secretary of State Tobias Read, Senate President Rob Wagner, Speaker of the House Julie Fahey and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson all came out in sharp opposition to federal troops being deployed amid ongoing riots at the ICE facility in Portland.
Mayor Keith Wilson stated at press conference “I’ve been so deeply disappointed to see the footage from a half-decade ago recycled and then recycled again. If President Trump came to Portland today, what he would find is people riding their bikes, playing sports, enjoying the sunshine, buying groceries or produce from a farmers’ market.” He went on to state “[w]e’ve had hard conversations, and we’ve done important work in the years since that footage was taken, we reformed our public safety system. We’ve refocused our community and on our economy, and we’ve redoubled our efforts to help our most vulnerable.”
At the press conference Governor Kotek stated “Portland and the State of Oregon believe in the rule of law and we can manage our own local public safety needs. There is no insurrection, there is no threat to national security, and there is no need for military troops in our major city.” The Governor went on stating “[o]ur city is a far cry from the war ravaged community he as posted about on social media. Any federal takeover with military troops in our state is a threat to communities across Oregon. It violates our right to govern ourselves. It interferes with local law enforcement’s ability to fulfill their mission and frankly it drains tax-payer resources that could be better spend elsewhere.”
House Republican Leader Christine Drazan had a different perspective following the Governor’s comments.
“The ICE facility in Portland has been subject to months of dangerously chaotic protests that have put residents and federal agents in harm’s way. The governor’s assertion that there is no national security threat and the mayor’s assertion that everything is fine is tone-deaf. It’s shameful that state and local leaders have allowed violent mobs and domestic terrorists to assault federal law enforcement, destroy property, and interfere with those seeking immigration services from obtaining assistance and case management. We need order, we need to restore safety, and Oregon’s local leaders have failed to provide it.”
Another Republican Representative, Dwayne Yunker also challenged the Governor’s statements. In a post on X he wrote:
The Governor says the Portland neighborhood around the ICE facility is “safe and calm.”
Really? Does she think Oregonians can’t see the videos posted daily showing chaos, lawlessness, and violence in that very area? This isn’t leadership, it’s denial. Pretending the problem doesn’t exist won’t make our streets safer. Oregonians deserve honesty, not gaslighting. If our leaders can’t even admit what’s happening in plain sight, how can we trust them to fix it?
In parallel with political responses by Oregon’s leading Democrats, the Portland Metro Chamber and a coalition of civic organizations released a public letter titled “A Call for Unity”. In it, they urged the Trump administration to refrain from using military intervention in Portland, arguing that the city has made measurable progress on public safety and that federal deployment would jeopardize that momentum.
Signatories to the letter include Governor Tina Kotek, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, Attorney General Dan Rayfield, and various county, city, and business representatives, highlighting the cross-sector unity in opposing the federal deployment.
About the Author
