Portland, Oregon– Donald Trump has vowed to send national guard troops to Portland, Oregon, after being misled about the scale of protests in the city.
The president claimed to have seen video evidence of “the destruction of the city,” but in reality, the protests have been small, with dozens of demonstrators gathering outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.
Trump cited a television report that gave a false impression of the protests, apparently using old footage from 2020 George Floyd demonstrations.
“I will say this, I watched today, I didn’t know that was continuing to go on, but Portland is unbelievable, what’s going on,” Trump said.
When asked if he would send troops to Portland, he replied, “well, I’m going to look at it now because I didn’t know that was still going on.
This has been going on for years.” Trump claimed that the protests could be easily stopped, saying, “we’ll be able to stop that very easily.”
The president’s claims were swiftly rebuked by Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, who stated that the city has not asked for federal intervention and can handle the protests itself.
“Like other mayors across the country, I have not asked for – and do not need – federal intervention,” Wilson said.
“We are proud that Portland police have successfully protected freedom of expression while addressing occasional violence and property destruction that takes place during protests.”
It appears that Trump was misled by a Fox News report that mixed images of recent protests with a viral video clip from 2020, wrongly described as having been shot in June this year.
The report focused on a protest attended by dozens of protesters who brought a guillotine as a prop before being doused with chemical agents by federal officers.
Trump also spread a baseless conspiracy theory, claiming that the protesters were “paid agitators” and “professional” demonstrators.
“These are paid terrorists,” he said. “These are paid agitators, these are professional. I watched that last night, I’m very good at this stuff.” He even suggested that well-printed signs displayed by some protesters proved his theory.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield has threatened to take action if Trump sends troops to Oregon.
“Although some threats from the Trump administration may be new or surprising, this one is not: we’ve been preparing to respond since Trump returned to office,” Rayfield said.
“California showed how effective our approach can be to stop federal overreach. Oregon is a safe place, and we intend to keep it that way.”
This isn’t the first time Trump has threatened to deploy troops to cities he perceives as having crime issues. He has previously threatened to send the National Guard to cities like Chicago, New York, Seattle, Baltimore, and San Francisco, citing concerns about violent crime.