Oregon — Just one day after a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump’s attempt to federalize the Oregon National Guard, the administration has taken an unannounced and seemingly unexpected step sending 300 California National Guard personnel into Oregon. The move sparked immediate backlash from California Governor Gavin Newsom, who vowed legal action to stop what he called “reckless and authoritarian conduct.”
In a statement posted to X today, Newsom said:
“After a federal court blocked his attempt to federalize the Oregon National Guard, Donald Trump is deploying 300 California National Guard personnel into Oregon. They are on their way there now.
We are taking this fight back to court.
The public cannot stay silent in the face of such reckless and authoritarian conduct by the President of the United States.”
The California deployment follows days of escalating legal and political confrontation over Trump’s effort to send federal and state troops to Portland’s ICE facility, where protests have persisted for more than a week.
Earlier coverage by Right Now Oregon detailed the legal battle between President Trump and Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, who argued that federalizing Oregon’s Guard violated the Posse Comitatus Act, which restricts the use of military forces in domestic law enforcement.
The federal court order temporarily restrained the White House from assuming command of Oregon’s Guard units, finding “a substantial likelihood” that the President’s action violated both state sovereignty and statutory limits on domestic troop deployment.
Despite the injunction, reports indicate that military convoys began moving north from California early Saturday morning under direct federal command, with troops reportedly bound for “federal property protection and peacekeeping” near Portland. Neither the Pentagon nor the Department of Homeland Security has released official details about the operation’s scope or legal basis.
Governor Kotek’s office has not yet issued a formal response to the California Guard deployment but previously vowed to “defend Oregon’s autonomy and constitutional authority at every level of court.”
Newsom’s decision to challenge the President’s order could trigger a rare interstate legal confrontation with California suing the federal government over the use of its own troops on another state’s soil.
As of Sunday afternoon, neither the White House, U.S. Department of Justice, or Secretary of War had commented on Newsom’s announcement or confirmed whether the California National Guard deployment had received state authorization.
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