President Donald Trump just scored a major win in the fight to restore order in Portland, Oregon, as a federal appeals court green-lighted his plan to deploy National Guard troops.
The Daily Caller reported that in a decisive ruling on Monday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a prior block and affirmed Trump's authority to federalize 200 Oregon National Guard troops to protect law enforcement amid violent protests near the city's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building.
Let's rewind a bit: protests near the Portland ICE facility have been anything but peaceful, with reports of violent clashes and direct attacks on federal officers escalating in recent months.
The situation has gotten so dire that the FBI has noted 195 arrests and citations near the ICE building since June 2025, a staggering tally of unrest.
Beyond physical violence, federal agents have faced chilling personal threats, with their names, photos, and home addresses plastered in public spaces alongside menacing messages—a tactic known as doxing that’s as dangerous as it is cowardly.
The appeals court pointed out that state and local law enforcement have either been unable or unwilling to step up and safeguard federal personnel and property, leaving a void that demanded action.
An earlier court order on October 4, 2025, had halted Trump's deployment plan, but the Ninth Circuit’s latest decision reversed that, finding that the president “likely” acted within legal bounds to call up the National Guard.
The judges leaned on federal law, which allows the president to federalize troops when regular forces can’t enforce U.S. laws—a provision that seems tailor-made for a city spiraling out of control.
“The continued deployment of [Federal Protective Services] officers to Portland is unsustainable,” the judges stated, underscoring the urgent need for reinforcements when local authorities drop the ball.
Not everyone is cheering this ruling, with Oregon Democratic Attorney General Dan Rayfield lamenting the decision on social media, claiming, “We are on a dangerous path in America.”
Rayfield’s dire warning might tug at progressive heartstrings, but it sidesteps the reality of officers under siege and a city teetering on the edge—sometimes safety trumps ideology.
He also griped that the Ninth Circuit failed to “hold the president accountable,” but one wonders if accountability means ignoring the chaos unfolding on Portland’s streets.
On the other side, Attorney General Pam Bondi celebrated the ruling on X, declaring, “Today, the 9th Circuit found that [President Trump] has the right to deploy the National Guard to Portland, Oregon, where local leaders have failed to keep their citizens safe.”
Bondi’s words hit the nail on the head—when local leadership falters, someone has to step in, and Trump, as Commander-in-Chief, is wielding the authority the Constitution grants him to do just that.
