Tag Archives: Portland

Raw Story: Trump increasingly angry as judges he hired hit him with ‘stark rejections’: report

Posted on by
Reply

Donald Trump is growing increasingly frustrated that some of the political initiatives of his second term are running into legal roadblocks — particularly as some of his judicial appointees are the ones running interference.

According to a report from Politico’s Kyle Cheney, Trump’s selections to the Supreme Court, Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, have been reliably siding with him on a series of short-term wins via the so-called “shadow docket,” but he continues to suffer setbacks from district judges he nominated to the bench — including one he put in place recently.

That has led to the president privately fuming and then complaining on social media about advisers and outside groups who vetted the judicial nominees for him.

Citing Trump setbacks on deporting immigrants, banning the Associated Press from the White House, handcuffing his tariff campaign, and, most recently, limiting his ability to send National Guard troops into Portland, Cheney noted Trump complained on Truth Social late Saturday, “I wasn’t served well by the people that pick judges.”

According to the Politico report, Trump’s latest broadside “came four months after he similarly sounded off about the ‘bad advice’ he got from the conservative Federalist Society for his first-term judicial nominations — a reaction to a ruling, backed by a Trump-appointed judge, rejecting his power to impose sweeping tariffs on U.S. trading partners.”

The report noted, “While Trump and his allies have spent all year leveling pointed attacks at Democratic judicial appointees, labeling them rogue insurrectionists and radicals, the president is increasingly facing stark rejections from people he put on the bench.”

The trouble the president is running into is being attributed to home-state senators, who are being accused of pushing Trump to “nominate more moderate picks than they might otherwise in states dominated by the opposing party.”

“Still, in some cases in which Trump-appointed judges have heard Trump-related cases, they have gone further than simply ruling against his policies. They have delivered sweeping warnings about the expansion of executive power, the erosion of checks and balances and have criticized his attacks on judges writ large,” Cheney wrote.

Trump increasingly angry as judges he hired hit him with ‘stark rejections’

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-judges-2674161078

ABC News: Portland police chief pushes back on White House ‘war zone’ narrative

Posted on by
Reply

“No, I would not say Portland’s war-ravaged,” Chief Bob Day told ABC News.

The Portland police chief is disputing President Donald Trump’s claim that the Oregon city is a “war zone” that is burning down and “war-ravaged” by protesters and violent criminals, amid legal challenges to the White House’s deployment of National Guard troops.

“No, I would not say Portland’s war-ravaged,” Portland Police Chief Bob Day told ABC News on Monday, calling the narrative that the city is under siege by protesters “disappointing.”

“It’s not a narrative that’s consistent with what’s actually happening now,” Day said. “Granted, 2020 and ’21, that conversation made a lot more sense. But in the last couple of years, under my administration, we’ve seen great strides made in the area of crime and safety.”

A U.S. district judge over the weekend temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deploying the National Guard to Portland, where the White House sought to have troops protect federal buildings.

Day said the demonstrations centered on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility take up a single block of the 145-square-mile city. He said in the past three months, there have been a few dozen arrests at the facility for assault and vandalism, but that his department is able to manage it with regional support.

“We have been engaged. We have been addressing violence. We have been addressing vandalism,” he said.

Sending in the National Guard would increase attention and potentially draw outsiders “looking to create some energy,” he said.

“The National Guard is not needed at this time for this particular problem,” Day said. “We are grateful for their service, respectful of the National Guard. These are citizen soldiers, Oregonians, or our neighbors, our friends. But for that role, we don’t need them right now.”

On Sept. 27, Trump directed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to provide “all necessary troops” to Portland amid protests at the city’s ICE facility.

The State of Oregon and the City of Portland sued, with officials in the city and state denouncing the action as unnecessary. U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut on Saturday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from sending the National Guard to Portland, finding that conditions in Portland were “not significantly violent or disruptive” to justify a federal takeover of the National Guard, and that the president’s claims about the city were “simply untethered to the facts.”

The Trump administration swiftly appealed the order and sent 200 California National Guard troops to Portland, leading Immergut to issue a second restraining order on Sunday that temporarily bars any federalized members of the National Guard from being deployed to Oregon.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt maintained Monday that Trump is working within his authority as commander-in-chief to deploy the National Guard to Portland because he has deemed the situation there “appropriate” to warrant the action. 

“For more than 100 days, night after night after night, the ICE facility has been really under siege by these anarchists outside,” she said during a press briefing. “They have been disrespecting law enforcement. They’ve been inciting violence.”

Trump on Monday continued to rail against the city, calling Portland a “burning hellhole” and likened the situation there to an “insurrection.”

“Portland is on fire. Portland’s been on fire for years, and not so much saving it,” he said while taking questions in the Oval Office on Monday. “We have to save something else, because I think that’s all insurrection. I really think that’s really criminal insurrection.”

Portland police chief pushes back on White House ‘war zone’ narrative
The Portland police chief is disputing President Donald Trump’s claim that the city is a “war zone” amid legal challenges to the deployment of National Guard troops.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/portland-police-chief-pushes-back-white-house-war/story?id=126274228

CBS News: Encountering ICE: A “David vs. Goliath” moment

Posted on by
Reply

In city after city, the Trump administration, through its agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has been testing limits of the law in apprehending and detaining people suspected of being undocumented, many of whom have no criminal record. Lee Cowan talks with a pastor whose Los Angeles parishioners feared being targeted by ICE; a man whose legal status in the U.S. was revoked and now faces deportation; and an attorney who resigned from ICE and now helps defend those detained by the government, which claims it is acting within the law.

Encountering ICE: A “David vs. Goliath” moment
In city after city, the Trump administration, through its agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has been testing limits of the law in apprehending and detaining people suspected of being undocumented, many of whom have no criminal record. Lee Cowan talks with a pastor whose Los Angeles parishioners feared being targeted by ICE; a man whose legal status in the U.S. was revoked and now faces deportation; and an attorney who resigned from ICE and now helps defend those detained by the government, which claims it is acting within the law.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/encountering-ice-a-david-vs-goliath-moment/vi-AA1NU0p2

CNN: Federal judge temporarily blocks any deployment of National Guard to Portland

Posted on by
Reply

A federal judge on Sunday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from sending any National Guard troops to Portland – a ruling which came as the Trump administration stepped up attempts to send out-of-state National Guard troops to the city after the judge earlier denied mobilizing Oregon National Guard troops.

Shortly before the Sunday evening hearing, President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of hundreds of Texas National Guard members to Illinois, Oregon and “other locations” in the US, according to the states’ governors.

US District Judge Karin Immergut – a Trump appointee – voiced skepticism toward the administration’s arguments to deploy the National Guard from the start, expressing frustration over what she characterized as an apparent attempt to sidestep her original Saturday order.

Addressing Deputy Assistant Attorney General Eric Hamilton late Sunday, she said: “Mr. Hamilton, you are an officer of the court. Aren’t the defendants simply circumventing my order?”

The tense hearing, which lasted less than 30 minutes, saw Immergut press the Justice Department lawyer, occasionally interrupting him to insist he answer her questions directly.

“What was unlawful with the Oregon National Guard is unlawful with the California National Guard,” Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said in a news conference before the Sunday ruling. The judge’s ruling was not some minor procedural point for the president to work around like my 14-year-old does when he doesn’t like my answers.”

Immergut granted a temporary restraining order Saturday blocking Trump from sending the Oregon National Guard to Portland, the state’s largest city, ruling that city and state officials “are likely to succeed on their claim that the President exceeded his constitutional authority and violated the Tenth Amendment” in ordering the deployment.

The state had amended its original complaint against calling up the Oregon National Guard in federal district court and filed for a second temporary restraining order to pause the president’s actions.

In response to the amended complaint, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement, “The facts haven’t changed: President Trump exercised his lawful authority to protect federal assets and personnel in Portland following violent riots and attacks on law enforcement.”

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said the president’s move to send troops from California appeared to intentionally sidestep Immergut’s ruling, which the Trump administration said it would appeal.

About 100 California National Guard troops have already arrived in Oregon and more are on the way, Kotek said earlier Sunday.

“At the direction of the President, approximately 200 federalized members of the California National Guard are being reassigned from duty in the greater Los Angeles area to Portland, Oregon 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,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement before Sunday’s ruling.

Kotek also said Sunday that the Department of Defense has ordered the Texas Adjutant General to deploy 400 Texas National Guard members to a number of states, including Illinois and Oregon.

“I have received no direct explanation from President Trump or Secretary (Pete) Hegseth about the specific need for this action. It is unclear how many will go to what location and what mission they will carry out,” she said.

“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,” Kotek said in a statement Sunday.

In recent weeks, Trump has ordered the deployment of federal troops in Democrat-led cities such as Chicago and Portland, arguing military deployments are necessary to protect federal immigration personnel and property amid “violent protests” carried out by “domestic terrorists.”

The anarchy described by the president is strongly disputed by locals who say they don’t want or need federal help.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is planning to sue over the deployment of National Guard troops from his state, he said in a statement.

“This is a breathtaking abuse of the law and power,” he said.

The White House defended the president’s orders in a statement earlier Sunday, saying Trump “exercised his lawful authority to protect federal assets and personnel in Portland following violent riots and attacks on law enforcement.”

“For once, Gavin Newscum should stand on the side of law-abiding citizens instead of violent criminals destroying Portland and cities across the country,” Jackson said in an earlier emailed statement to CNN, misspelling the governor’s name.

CNN has reached out to the California National Guard for comment.

The Saturday decision by Immergut to block the deployment of the Oregon National Guard said the president appeared to have federalized the Oregon National Guard “absent constitutional authority” and protests in Portland “did not pose a ‘danger of a rebellion.’” The judge said Oregon attorneys showed “substantial evidence that the protests at the Portland ICE facility were not significantly violent” leading up to the president’s directive.

While the judge noted that recent incidents cited by the Trump administration of protesters clashing with federal officers “are inexcusable,” she added “they are nowhere near the type of incidents that cannot be handled by regular law enforcement forces.”

Immergut warned some of the arguments offered by the Trump administration “risk blurring the line between civil and military federal power – to the detriment of this nation.”

Last month, a federal judge in California ruled the Trump administration broke the law when it deployed thousands of federalized National Guard soldiers and hundreds of Marines to suppress protests against ICE actions in Los Angeles.

The decision barred troops from carrying out law enforcement in the state, but the White House has appealed the decision.

Immergut, in her opinion, said incidents in Portland are “categorically different” from the violence seen in Los Angeles when the president federalized troops there.

“Neither outside the Portland ICE facility nor elsewhere in the City of Portland was there unlawful activity akin to what was occurring in Los Angeles leading up to June 7, 2025,” the judge wrote.

Federal judge temporarily blocks any deployment of National Guard to Portland | CNN
A federal judge on Sunday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from sending any National Guard troops to Portland – a ruling which came as the administration stepped up attempts to send out-of-state National Guard troops to the city after the judge earlier denied mobilizing Oregon National Guard troops.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/05/us/oregon-trump-california-national-guard

Daily Beast: Newsom Mocks Stephen Miller’s Meltdown Over Legal Defeat

Posted on by
Reply

The governor ridiculed the top White House official after a judge halted Trump’s National Guard deployment plans.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom went on a wild posting spree mocking Stephen Miller after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from deploying out-of-state National Guard troops into Portland.

U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, who was nominated to the bench by President Donald Trump, issued an order preventing the administration’s plans to move troops from California and Texas into the Democratic stronghold of Portland, Oregon.

Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, melted down in a lengthy X post over the ruling, calling it “one of the most egregious and thunderous violations of constitutional order we have ever seen.”

“A district court judge has no conceivable authority, whatsoever, to restrict the President and Commander-in-Chief from dispatching members of the U.S. military to defend federal lives and property,” Miller added.

Newsom, a rumored Democratic 2028 contender who has taken to trolling MAGA figures online, targeted Miller with a barrage of social media posts.

In response to Miller’s 219-word X rant, Newsom posted the “I ain’t reading all that” meme–a screenshot of a direct message commonly used to dismiss long online tirades.

The Newsom’s press office account piled on after the ruling, posting “Live look at Stephen Miller tonight” alongside a photo of Voldemort, the Harry Potter villain–a common nickname for the top Trump ally seen as the architect behind many of the president’s hardline immigration plans.

Elsewhere, Newsom’s office mocked Miller after he clashed online with Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz, who asked whether ordering National Guard troops from GOP-led states into Democratic states was a “red line” for Republicans.

“US Senator thinks troops can only serve in one state,” Miller wrote. In response, Newsom’s press office posted, “Stephen Miller thinks governors can ship National Guard troops across state lines to be used AGAINST American citizens. RT if you think Stephen Miller should be FIRED!”

Newsom also hit out at Trump’s plan to deploy the Texas National Guard into Chicago, as revealed by Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

“This is a breathtaking abuse of the law and power by the President of the United States,” Newsom wrote. “America is on the brink of martial law. Do not be silent.”

In response, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said no one “cares” what Newsom says on X. However, polls suggest that the governor’s trolling tactic is seen as more favorable than unfavorable, and is improving Newsom’s national profile ahead of a potential White House bid.

On Saturday, Judge Immergut also halted the Trump administration’s deployment of Oregon’s own National Guard into Portland, ruling the president’s claims that it was justified to tackle unrest in the city were “untethered to facts.”

“This is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law,” Immergut wrote.

Newsom has publicly rebuked Trump for months following the president’s controversial decision in June to deploy the National Guard and Marines into Los Angeles to assist law enforcement during protests against ICE raids.

In September, a federal judge ruled that the deployment was illegal, blasting Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for “moving toward creating a national police force with the President as its chief.”

Newsom Mocks Stephen Miller’s Meltdown Over Legal Defeat
The governor ridiculed the top White House official after a judge halted Trump’s National Guard deployment plans.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/gavin-newsom-mocks-stephen-millers-meltdown-over-legal-defeat

Atlantic: Stephen Miller Is Going for Broke

Posted on by
Reply

The White House aide equates opposition to Trump’s agenda with terrorism—and pushes for the use of state power to suppress it.

Stephen Miller spent his weekend, as he is wont to do, describing American politics as if the nation were in the advanced stages of civil war and as if he were dictating a message while racing to a mountain hideout to escape bloodthirsty guerillas. “There is a large and growing movement of leftwing terrorism in this country. It is well organized and funded,” he wrote on X. “And it is shielded by far-left Democrat judges, prosecutors and attorneys general. The only remedy is to use legitimate state power to dismantle terrorism and terror networks.”

The provocation for this latest sweaty missive was an unfavorable judicial ruling (by a judge contravening President Donald Trump’s federal takeover of 200 National Guardsmen in Oregon). But violent defiance has become the animating vision through which Miller—and, therefore, on account of his sweeping influence over domestic politics, the Trump administration—views his conflict with Democrats, the media, the judiciary, or any entity that stands in his path.

The most consistent theme in Trump’s career is that any word or deed that he deems contrary to his political interests is illegitimate. Any unfavorable news story is libel, any election he loses is rigged, any unflattering fact pattern is a hoax, and almost anybody who opposes him should be locked up.

Miller’s career was defined, in its early stages, by a fanatical hatred of immigration. Over time, as Miller has emerged as the chief architect of Trump’s second-term agenda, his worldview and Trump’s have blended together.

“The Democrat Party is not a political party,” he said in August. “It is a domestic extremist organization.” Several weeks later, Trump seized on Charlie Kirk’s assassination to depict his own political opponents as accessories to murder. “For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals,” he said, in remarks reportedly written by Miller. “This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now.”

Kirk’s death became the immediate pretext for using state power to crush political opposition. As the shock of that murder has worn off, Miller is shifting to a more durable pretext: the political and legal backlash against Trump’s expansive deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The executive branch certainly has the right, and indeed the obligation, to enforce immigration law. Trump, though, has redefined the boundaries of this enforcement in numerous ways: by detaining people without due process, some of whom have inevitably turned out to be citizens; by seizing law-enforcement powers from states and localities; by employing masked agents who don’t always identify their agency, and who have frequently attacked journalists and bystanders.

These actions have generated public pushback, and even isolated and horrifying acts of violence—but hardly an insurrection. As the ruling turning down Trump’s demand to federalize law enforcement in Oregon notes, the administration’s assertion that Portland is in a state of revolution musters a total of four episodes of threatening behavior by protesters to justify this claim. One of the incidents is “protesters setting up a makeshift guillotine to intimidate federal officials.” Another was “someone posting a photograph of an unmarked ICE vehicle online.” The other two involved flashlights being shone in the faces of agents driving vehicles. These incidents may be regrettable, but they do not even constitute actual violence, let alone terrorism.

In the Miller-Trump formulation, however, Trump embodies both the public will and the only force standing between the public and rampant criminal anarchy. It follows that opposition to Trump in any form, including by judges issuing legal rulings, constitutes an illegal rebellion. “The President is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, not an Oregon judge. Portland and Oregon law enforcement, at the direction of local leaders, have refused to aid ICE officers facing relentless terrorist assault and threats to life,” Miller asserted on X. “This is an organized terrorist attack on the federal government and its officers, and the deployment of troops is an absolute necessity to defend our personnel, our laws, our government, public order and the Republic itself.”

Trump’s remarks on the night of Kirk’s murder redefined violent incitement to include harsh criticism of judges. (“My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it, as well as those who go after our judges, law-enforcement officials, and everyone else who brings order to our country.”) Now Miller himself is going after judges.

To call this “hypocrisy” is to engage Miller’s reasoning at a level upon which it does not operate. The essence of post-liberalism is the rejection of the notion that some neutral standards of conduct apply to all parties. Miller, like Trump, appears to believe his side stands for what is right and good, and his opponents stand for what is evil. Any methods used by Trump are ipso facto justified, and any methods used against him illegitimate.

A couple of weeks ago, Miller claimed that a disturbed gunman shooting Charlie Kirk impelled the government to crack down on the left. Now he says a handful of activists protesting ICE impel the government to crack down on the left.

Violence is not the cause of Trump and Miller’s desire to use state power to crush their opposition. It is the pretext for which they transparently long.

Stephen Miller Is Going for Broke
The White House aide equates opposition to Trump’s agenda with terrorism—and pushes for the use of state power to suppress it.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/10/miller-insurrection/684463

ABC News: Tensions rise amid anti-ICE protests in Chicago

Posted on by
Reply

State Rep. Lilian Jimenez joins ABC News Live to discuss the Trump administration’s decision to send 300 National Guard troops to Chicago.

Tensions rise amid anti-ICE protests in Chicago
State Rep. Lilian Jimenez joins ABC News Live to discuss the Trump administration’s decision to send 300 National Guard troops to Chicago.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/tensions-rise-amid-anti-ice-protests-in-chicago/vi-AA1NUa5l

Independent: Trump admin discussed sending the battle-ready 82nd Airborne Division into Portland, leaked texts reveal

Posted on by
Reply

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly considered deploying an elite Army unit to Portland, Oregon, to address protests President Donald Trump called “lawless mayhem,” according to text messages

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth considered deploying an elite Army unit to Portland, Oregon, to address what President Donald Trump called “lawless mayhem,” according to text messages shared with the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Last weekend, in a crowded public setting, high-ranking Trump administration officials reportedly exchanged messages about potentially deploying the Army’s 82nd Airborne, a division historically sent into combat in both World Wars, Vietnam, and Afghanistan.

Any move to send the unit domestically would likely face legal challenges under federal restrictions on the use of military forces within the United States.

Ultimately, the administration opted to deploy 200 federalized National Guard troops to Portland rather than active-duty Army forces. The state of Oregon and the city of Portland have filed suit in federal court seeking to block that deployment.

While traveling in Minnesota, Anthony Salisbury, deputy to White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, reportedly used the private messaging app Signal to send the texts, which were visible to people nearby.

Concerned by the public discussion of sensitive military plans, a source, fearing retaliation, anonymously provided the Star Tribune with images of the texts. The newspaper confirmed Salisbury as the sender using photos, video, and facial recognition, while verifying the authenticity of the messages, it reports.

The Independent has contacted the White House and the Department of War on Saturday for comment.

Over dozens of messages, Salisbury spoke candidly, sometimes profanely, with Hegseth’s adviser, Patrick Weaver, and other officials, claiming that Hegseth wanted Trump’s explicit approval before sending troops into the city.

“Between you and I, I think Pete just wants the top cover from the boss if anything goes sideways with the troops there,” Weaver allegedly wrote.

He recognized the political risks of sending Army troops to a U.S. city, adding that Hegseth preferred deploying the National Guard instead.

“82nd is like our top tier [quick reaction force] for abroad. So it will cause a lot of headlines,” Weaver added. “Probably why he wants potus to tell him to do it.”

When approached for comment by the Star Tribune, the White House reportedly declined to address the substance of the texts, but defended Salisbury, noting he was in Minnesota to serve as a pallbearer at a family funeral.

“Despite dealing with grief from the loss of a family member, Tony continued his important work on behalf of the American people,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told the outlet in a written statement. “Nothing in these private conversations, that are shamefully being reported on by morally bankrupt reporters, is new or classified information.”

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell declined to answer questions for this report, but stated that the messages reflect officials “working around the clock.” A spokesperson also criticized the Star Tribune for refusing requests to provide access to the images or transcripts of the texts.

“The Department of War is a planning organization and does not speculate on potential future operations,” Parnell said. “The Department is continuously working with other agency partners to protect federal assets and personnel and to keep American communities safe.”

Trump officials considered deploying 82nd Airborne to Portland, texts show
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly considered deploying an elite Army unit to Portland, Oregon, to address protests President Donald Trump called “lawless mayhem,” according to text messages

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-portland-82-airborne-texts-b2839399.html

Mediaite: Leaked Texts Reveal Trump Officials Floated Airborne Troops to ‘War-Ravaged’ US City

Posted on by
Reply

Trump administration officials privately discussed sending one of the country’s most hardened combat units into Portland, Oregon, leaked Signal messages reveal.

Anthony Salisbury, a top deputy to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, was reportedly exchanging messages with War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s adviser Patrick Weaver over Signal in a crowded public space last weekend while traveling in Minnesota to a family funeral.

The alarmed source shared images of the exchange with the Minnesota Star Tribune under condition of anonymity.

According to the newspaper the texts reveal discussions about deploying the 82nd Airborne Division to Portland, a unit better known for parachuting into World War battlefields and Afghanistan than patrolling American streets.

“Between you and I, I think Pete just wants the top cover from the boss if anything goes sideways with the troops there,” wrote Weaver.

Another message acknowledged the political cost of such a move: “82nd is like our top tier for abroad. So it will cause a lot of headlines. Probably why he wants potus to tell him to do it.”

Hegseth wanted to send the National Guard instead, he added.

The administration ultimately ordered 200 National Guard troops to what the president called “war-ravaged” Portland on September 28. Both the state of Oregon and the city of Portland have since sued to block the deployment, arguing it violates federal limits on the domestic use of the military.

The revelations underscore remarks by President Donald Trump days in an address at Quantico to generals and admirals floating American cities “training grounds” for the armed forces.

Elsewhere the exchange revealed information about other ongoing campaigns within the cabinet, according to the outlet, with Salisbury insulting FBI director Kash Patel as a “giant douche canoe.”

The White House did not respond to questions on the exchanges by attacking the journalists reporting as “morally bankrupt.

Leaked Texts Reveal Trump Officials Floated Airborne Troops to ‘War-Ravaged’ US City
Trump administration officials privately discussed sending one of the country’s most hardened combat units into Portland, Oregon, leaked Signal messages reveal.
Leaked Texts Reveal Trump Officials Floated Airborne Troops to ‘War-Ravaged’ US City

Daily Beast: Trump Goon Spills Bonkers Plan to Deploy 82nd Airborne to Blue City

Posted on by
Reply

A senior White House aide’s messages were shared with a newspaper after he used Signal in a crowded public place.

A senior White House official accidentally disclosed that the Trump administration was considering deploying an elite army strike force into Portland by using Signal in a public place.

The Minnesota Star Tribune reported Friday that Anthony Salisbury, one of Stephen Miller’s top deputies, was observed discussing the plans via Signal in view of members of the public while traveling in Minnesota. The newspaper was then contacted by one member of the public who was troubled to see sensitive military plans discussed so openly.

In the messages, senior White House officials discussed the potential deployment of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, an elite unit that specializes in parachuting into hostile territory. The division has been deployed in both world wars, including the Battle of the Bulge, as well as Vietnam and Afghanistan.

Across several conversations, the Star Tribune reports, Salisbury spoke about a range of matters with Pete Hegseth adviser Patrick Weaver as well as other officials.

In one of the messages, Weaver revealed that Hegseth wanted Trump to explicitly instruct him to send soldiers to Portland.

“Between you and I, I think Pete just wants the top cover from the boss if anything goes sideways with the troops there,” Weaver reportedly said.

Noting the potentially disastrous optics around sending an elite division into an American city, Weaver told Salisbury, “82nd is like our top tier [quick reaction force] for abroad. So it will cause a lot of headlines. Probably why he wants potus to tell him to do it.”

Ultimately, Trump opted to send 200 National Guard soldiers into Portland, following a similar playbook used in other Democrat-controlled cities like Los Angeles and Washington D.C. Both the state of Oregon and the city of Portland have sued to stop the deployment.

Abigail Jackson, a spokesperson for the White House, told the Daily Beast, “Tony recently traveled to Minnesota to serve as a pallbearer in his uncle’s funeral who passed away from cancer. Despite dealing with grief from the loss of a family member, Tony continued his important work on behalf of the American people.“

“Nothing in these private conversations, that are shamefully being reported on by morally bankrupt reporters, is new or classified information,” Jackson continued. “Frankly, this story just shows the entire Trump Administration is working around the clock—and even through funerals—to make America safe again.”

The incident marks the second time in six months that the Trump administration has experienced issues as a result of insecure lines of communication.

Earlier this year, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added to a Signal chat where several high-ranking government officials discussed the logistics of a strike on Yemen’s Houthis.

The fiasco was quickly dubbed “Signalgate” and ultimately led to national security adviser Mike Waltz, who was responsible for adding Goldberg to the chat, leaving his role at the National Security Council. President Trump later appointed him Ambassador to the United Nations.

Trump has consistently asserted that sending soldiers into cities is the only way to address rampant crime. Meanwhile, the White House has admitted to “reconfiguring” crime statistics to suit Trump’s agenda after claiming that other official statistics are “phony.”

The president’s crime crackdown, which has been concentrated entirely on blue cities, is proving more and more unpopular with the American public. After looking at recent polling on Monday, CNN data guru Harry Enten told viewers, “If Donald Trump thinks that potentially sending in the National Guard into cities like Portland is a winning political issue, the polling says you’re wrong, Mr. President!”

Trump also faced a significant blow after a federal judge ruled that his deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles was illegal, with Judge Charles Breyer finding that the president had violated the Posse Comitatus Act by requiring armed soldiers to carry out domestic law enforcement activities.

Trump Goon Spills Bonkers Plan to Deploy 82nd Airborne to Blue City
A senior White House aide’s messages were shared with a newspaper after he used Signal in a crowded public place.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-goon-spills-bonkers-plan-to-deploy-82nd-airborne-to-blue-city