Trump Says Portland Is ‘War-Ravaged’ Based On False Reports About ICE Facilities ‘Under Siege’: Here’s The Truth

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump completely jumped the shark in what was already a far-fetched, propaganda-reliant justification for his weaponization of the National Guard and other military personnel against Democrat-run cities. He claimed violent crime was on the rise when, in reality, it is on the decline. Now, white people who have never set foot in an “inner city” in their lives would certainly buy the racist nonsense Trump has been selling when it comes to cities like Chicago, D.C., and Baltimore. And they would easily buy into the lie that ICE agents are under siege in California cities like Los Angeles.

But Portland? Really?

Yes, on Saturday, Trump posted from his “Truth” Social account, “At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, I am directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists,” and ever since then, Portland residents have bee scratching their heads trying to figure out which Portland this fool is talking about.

Most people probably never thought they’d even see a liberal hippie city like Portland be characterized as “war ravaged,” but if it’s going to happen, it will happen in the same sentence that renames the Department of Defense as the “Department of War” and insists that Antifa is an existing organization at all, let alone the terrorist organization Trump has designated it as.

Also, according to Politico, Trump appears to be getting his information from “television” and people who are conflating Portland protests during 2020 over the death of George Floyd with the peaceful, largely uneventful anti-ICE protests that are happening in the city currently — which is probably why even he appeared to be doubtful about the info he received just hours before his administration went ahead and federalized 200 Oregon National Guard members.

From KGW 8:

During a Sunday morning phone interview with NBC White House Correspondent Yamiche Alcindor, though, Trump made some remarks that seemed to indicate he might be backing off his military plan for Portland.

Trump referenced a weekend conversation with Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, and he alluded to being told by Kotek that the reality in Portland is different from what’s being portrayed to him.

“I spoke to the governor, she was very nice,” Trump said. “But I said, ‘Well wait a minute, am I watching things on television that are different from what’s happening? My people tell me different.’ They are literally attacking and there are fires all over the place…it looks like terrible.”

That’s right, y’all, our sitting president appears to get his information about what’s going on in the county he’s in charge of the same way MAGA rubes across the internet get theirs: by resharing every piece of unconfirmed “news” that happens to come across his feed with no concern for facts or potential confirmation bias whatsoever.

I mean, this was already proven once he got up on a nationally televised debate stage and declared, “They’re eating the pets,” but still.

But Trump had already come right out and called Portland a deadly war zone, and there’s no going back on that now, so, on Tuesday, he doubled down on saying the city is “like a war zone” while speaking before senior military leaders in Washington.

Oh, and that “very nice” governor he said he spoke with previously, referring to Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek? Well, he certainly changed his tune about her.

“I get a call from the liberal governor, ‘Sir, please don’t come in, we don’t need you.’ I said, ‘Well, unless they’re playing false tapes, this looks like World War II. Your place is burning down. I mean, you must be kidding,’” Trump said, seemingly unaware that he is, indeed, acting on false information, as is the rest of his deeply unqualified administration.

“The Radical Left’s reign of terror in Portland ends now,” the White House declared in a news release Tuesday.

“While Democrat politicians deny reality, it’s obvious what’s happening in Portland isn’t protest; it’s premeditated anarchy that has scarred the city for years — leaving officers battered, citizens terrorized, and property defaced,” the news release read.

As it turns out, on Monday night, protests near the Portland ICE facility that is supposedly under siege by rabid Antifa terrorists, somehow, resulted in not a single arrest being made, according to Portland police. Also on Monday, a temporary restraining order was filed against the Trump administration by Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, seeking to stop National Guard troops from deploying to the city. According to KATU 2, “It’s a move that’s part of a larger lawsuit filed jointly by the state and city.”

“Since July 18, 2025, central precinct officers have carried out routine monitoring of the ICE-facility protests without serious incident,” Portland Police’s Assistant Chief of Operations Craig Dobson wrote in the filing. “In that time, the risks posed by nightly ICE-facility protests have not merited anything more than standard, periodic monitoring like any other neighborhood in the city.”

Y’all, are we seeing a pattern here?

Virtually every time Trump starts babbling about sending the National Guard into a city, all of that city’s leaders say it’s unnecessary and unwanted, and the crime data in those cities confirms that to be true.

And, again, most Portland residents across social media appear to feel the same way, which is why they’re mocking the president for trying to make a “war zone” out of a city that is the opposite of that.

CNN and the Guardian also spoke with Portland residents, who don’t seem to know WTF Trump is talking about.

“It kind of feels like somebody’s trying to rage bait you,” resident Sarah Siano told CNN. “They’re just trying to get that negative reaction.”

“There’s no justification, no reason for the national guard or military to be using ‘full force’ on people,” protester Jack Dickinson told the Guardian. “But they have this narrative about Portland that’s been helped by selectively edited videos to set themselves up for a crackdown.”

So, the governor says it’s not true, the Portland police and other city authorities say it’s not true, arrest records say it’s not true, crime data says it’s not true, the people who actually live in Portland say it’s not true, and the video footage they’re showing of the city says it’s not true — but the president, the White House and whoever is giving Trump his misinformation says it is.

Gee, who to believe?

SEE ALSO:

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‘The Guard Is Not Needed’: Chicago Mayor Pushes Back On Trump’s National Guard Threat