Tue Oct 21 00:17:00 UTC 2025: News Article:
U.S. Appeals Court Backs Trump’s Use of National Guard in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon – October 21, 2025: In a divided ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has granted President Donald Trump a significant legal victory, upholding his authority to deploy National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, over the objections of city and state leaders. The decision reverses a lower court’s order blocking the deployment, allowing Trump to continue his administration’s controversial practice of sending military personnel to Democratic-led cities.
The court’s majority opinion argued that sending in the National Guard was an appropriate response to protests that had previously damaged a federal building and threatened U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
However, Circuit Judge Susan Graber dissented sharply, warning that allowing troops to be deployed in response to what she termed “merely inconvenient” protests was “not merely absurd” but dangerous. She urged the full 9th Circuit to overturn the ruling before Trump could deploy troops.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield echoed Graber’s concerns, stating that the ruling puts America on a “dangerous path” by granting the president unilateral power to deploy Oregon soldiers with almost no justification.
The ruling comes as Trump has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on his authority to send troops to Democratic-led cities after another appeals court ruled against his decision to send troops to Chicago.
While White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson welcomed the ruling, highlighting Trump’s authority to protect federal assets, critics fear it sets a dangerous precedent.
The decision is the latest development in a legal battle over Trump’s unprecedented use of military personnel to suppress protests and bolster domestic immigration enforcement. The lawsuit alleges Trump exaggerated the severity of Portland protests to justify seizing control of state National Guard units, pointing to police records indicating that recent protests were “small and sedate.”
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