On Saturday, President Donald Trump declared his authorization of “full force, if necessary,” to “protect” Portland, Oregon, from Antifa.
This declaration comes less than a week after Trump officially , and aligns with promises from the Trump Administration to implement an extensive crackdown on leftwing organizations following the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“Upon the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, I am instructing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to deploy all required Troops to safeguard war-ravaged Portland and any of our ICE Facilities facing attacks from Antifa and other domestic terrorists,” Trump stated in a Saturday morning Truth Social post.
“Furthermore, I am authorizing Full Force, should it be necessary,” he appended.
Trump’s deployment of the U.S. military has been unprecedented, prompting worries that it could be utilized to suppress dissent against .
In June, Trump dispatched to suppress immigration protests, an action that was subsequently judged . Later in August, he , and took federal control of the police force, supposedly to combat crime, despite crime rates showing a decline in recent years.
Since then, Trump has escalated his actions, the military to additional Democratic-governed cities as retribution for local leaders’ criticisms, asserting these deployments were justified by his personal assessment of crime in those areas.
Recalling 2020
Trump’s focus on Portland, Oregon, has origins in his initial term.
For decades, Portland has served as a hub for leftwing demonstrations, and during Trump’s presidency in 2020, it emerged as a key site for the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests.
In response to those protests, Trump dispatched federal forces to Portland. Personnel from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the U.S. Marshals Service, the Federal Protective Service, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were deployed within the city to safeguard federal structures from demonstrators, despite objections from local authorities.
Oregon Governor Kate Brown charged the Trump Administration with exploiting Portland for a political “photo opportunity,” stating at the time that their actions “exacerbated” the situation instead of de-escalating it.
Ongoing protests have occurred outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency headquarters in the city during recent months. The Department of Homeland Security has attributed these to “Antifa-affiliated rioters” .
Ron Wyden, a Democratic Senator representing Oregon, alleged that Trump was attempting to instigate violence within the city.
“Trump is initiating an authoritarian seizure of Portland, aiming to incite conflict in my home city,” he posted on X. “I implore Oregonians to repudiate Trump’s endeavor to provoke violence in what we recognize as a dynamic and tranquil city. I will utilize every means at my disposal to safeguard the inhabitants of our state.”
Antifa designated a ‘domestic terror group’
Trump formally designated Antifa as a domestic terror organization in a new signed Monday evening.
The order characterizes the group as a “militarist, anarchist enterprise that explicitly advocates for the overthrow of the United States Government, law enforcement agencies, and our legal framework.”
Antifa, an abbreviation for anti-fascist, represents a predominantly decentralized movement without clear leadership. Broadly, Antifa encompasses individuals who oppose fascism and far-right neo-Nazi ideologies, tracing their origins to the 20th-century European resistance against fascism.
Trump’s Executive Orders instruct government agencies to “investigate, disrupt, and dismantle any and all illicit operations” conducted by “Antifa.”
However, the U.S. currently lacks specific domestic terror legislation, and the order seems expansive enough to potentially target a broad spectrum of protest movements. The practical application of the order remains uncertain given Antifa’s ambiguous definition and decentralized nature.
This action coincides with Trump’s directive for a crackdown on left-wing organizations following Kirk’s murder, notwithstanding the motivations of the murder suspect, Tyler Robinson, .
