Federal judge pauses Trump’s deployment of National Guard to Portland

A federal judge in Oregon has blocked the Trump administration from sending federalized National Guard members from California — or any other state — to the streets of Portland, Oregon.

In a rare, late Sunday night virtual hearing, U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut granted the motion for a temporary restraining order filed by the state of California, which asked her to prevent the deployment of up to 300 members of the California National Guard to Portland.

The decision from Immergut, a Trump appointee, came a day after she blocked President Donald Trump’s attempt to deploy Oregon National Guard troops in Portland.

Earlier Sunday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he would sue the Trump administration after it deployed the federalized troops — National Guard members called into service by the president — to Oregon.

“This is a breathtaking abuse of the law and power,” Newsom said in a statement. “The Trump Administration is unapologetically attacking the rule of law itself and putting into action their dangerous words — ignoring court orders and treating judges, even those appointed by the President himself, as political opponents.”

In a statement, the White House had confirmed the movement of California National Guard troops to Oregon.

“President Trump exercised his lawful authority to protect federal assets and personnel in Portland following violent riots and attacks on law enforcement,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement Sunday that members of the California National Guard were being reassigned from the Los Angeles area to Portland “to support U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal personnel performing official duties, including the enforcement of federal law, and to protect federal property.”

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, a Democrat, confirmed that some of the troops had flown into Oregon on Saturday night and said “it is our understanding that there are more on the way today.”

She condemned the move, saying in a statement: “The facts haven’t changed. There is no need for military intervention in Oregon. There is no insurrection in Portland. No threat to national security. Oregon is our home, not a military target. Oregonians exercising their freedom of speech against unlawful actions by the Trump Administration should do so peacefully.”

Texas National Guard called into service

Before the late-night ruling, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a memo Sunday that he is calling up to 400 members of the Texas National Guard into federal service in Chicago and Portland for up to 60 days with the potential for an extension.

“On October 4, 2025, the President determined that violent incidents, as well as the credible threat of continued violence, are impeding the execution of the laws of the United States in Illinois, Oregon, and other locations throughout the United States,” Hegseth wrote.

The memo was included in a court filing by the Oregon attorney general’s office in the Oregon National Guard case Sunday night.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said in a news release Sunday^[1] that no federal officials had called him to coordinate the guard’s deployment.

“We must now start calling this what it is: Trump’s Invasion,” wrote Pritzker, a Democrat. “It started with federal agents, it will soon include deploying federalized members of the Illinois National Guard against our wishes, and it will now involve sending in another state’s military troops.”

Pritzker and Kotek called on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to withdraw any support for that decision.

Abbott, a Republican, said on X^[2] that he “fully authorized the President to call up 400 members of the Texas National Guard to ensure safety for federal officials.”

“You can either fully enforce protection for federal employees or get out of the way and let Texas Guard do it,” Abbott said. “No Guard can match the training, skill, and expertise of the Texas National Guard.”

The White House and Abbott’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the Texas guard’s deployment to Illinois.

Kotek blasted the Texas news Sunday night, saying she had received no “direct explanation” from Trump or Hegseth about why the action was needed and refused to coordinate.

“This is a continuation and escalation of the President’s dangerous, un-American misuse of states’ National Guard members and hard-earned taxpayer dollars,” Kotek wrote.

Temporary restraining order

California Attorney General Rob Bonta celebrated Immergut’s decision Sunday to block the deployment of California Guard troops to Oregon, and implied that the Trump administration’s attempt to move the troops was in response to the federal judge’s order the day before.

“The Trump Administration’s flagrant disregard for the courts was on full display when it sought to circumvent Judge Immergut’s order blocking the federalization of the Oregon National Guard by redeploying troops from Los Angeles to Portland,” Bonta said in a statement late Sunday. “This disrespect for the rule of law cannot stand—and I’m glad the court agreed.”

Immergut on Saturday temporarily blocked the administration’s activation of 200 Oregon National Guard troops to Portland until at least Oct. 18.

“This country has a longstanding and foundational tradition of resistance to government overreach, especially in the form of military intrusion into civil affairs,” she wrote in her ruling.

In response, the Trump administration filed a motion with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for an emergency pause of the decision.

The Trump administration said Immergut “impermissibly second-guessed” Trump’s military judgments.

“Nearly 200 years ago, the Supreme Court made clear that these judgment calls are for the President to make — not a Governor, and certainly not a federal court,” the motion read.

In a statement after Saturday’s ruling, Kotek said: “There is no insurrection in Portland. No threat to national security. No fires, no bombs, no fatalities due to civil unrest. The only threat we face is to our democracy — and it is being led by President Donald Trump.”

In an op-ed published Sunday^[3] in The Oregonian, Portland Police Chief Bob Day didn’t denounce Trump’s deployment of the National Guard outright, but he said “national portrayals” of Portland were overstating the problem there.

“There is no ignoring that we are facing an extraordinary time in our city’s history, with the deployment of both federal law enforcement and the Oregon National Guard,” Day wrote. “One of the reasons given for this action has been that Portland Police are not responding to public disorder.”

“Just because officers are not seen wearing tactical gear lining up before crowds does not mean we are not responding. In fact, research shows that such tactics often escalate crowd behavior. Instead, we use a layered approach when it comes to managing public order,” he added.

Trump clashes with Democratic leaders

Trump clashed repeatedly with Democratic governors and mayors over the weekend over his moves to deploy National Guard troops across the country.

In addition to the lawsuit from Democratic leaders in Portland and Oregon, Pritzker blasted Trump’s decision Saturday to deploy National Guard troops in Chicago^[4], an idea Trump has floated for weeks^[5].

“It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will,” Pritzker said in a statement Saturday.

In an interview Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,”^[6] Pritzker said federal authorities “are the ones that are making it a war zone. They need to get out of Chicago if they’re not going to focus on the worst of the worst, which is what the president said they were going to do. They need to get the heck out.”

Democrats also blasted Trump’s comments to senior military leaders^[7] last week that the military should “use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military National Guard.”

Before the Trump administration’s moves this weekend in Portland and Chicago, it had deployed National Guard troops to two other cities, Los Angeles and Washington.

Trump has also threatened to deploy troops and federal law enforcement to other cities, including Baltimore^[8] and New Orleans^[9].

In Los Angeles last month, a federal judge ruled that the deployment of National Guard troops and Marines was illegal^[10]. Days later, officials in Washington also sued^[11] to block the deployment of National Guard troops in the nation’s capital.