But as ridiculous as this was, much of the public was left to wonder which city might be next on the White House’s target list. We apparently didn’t have to wait too long to find out. NBC News reported:

President Donald Trump said Saturday that he was directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to ‘provide all necessary Troops’ to Portland, Oregon. In a post on Truth Social, the president wrote that the troops would ‘protect War ravaged Portland’ and protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities that he claimed are ‘under siege from attack by Antifa and other domestic terrorists.'

As part of the same online missive, the Republican said he’s “authorizing Full Force, if necessary.” What did that mean, exactly? I’m not altogether sure, though it sounded as if the American president was authorizing the use of military force against Americans on American soil.....

The official line from Trump is that the city is “war ravaged” and “under siege,” making it necessary to use troops to protect local ICE facilities. The official line, however, is obvious nonsense.

Taken just a few minutes ago outside the ICE facility in Portland that Trump claims is under siege. My message to Donald Trump is this: we don’t need you here. Stay the hell out of our city.

— Senator Ron Wyden (@wyden.senate.gov) 2025-09-27T19:09:07.734Z

....The NBC affiliate in Portland highlighted some highly relevant comments Trump made to NBC News:

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.’

Oh. So Trump isn’t sure he’s right about Portland descending into a lawless hellscape, but he’s definitely seen some unsettling images while “watching things on television.”