Statement on Trump’s False Declaration of “War”

For Immediate Release

President Trump’s recent statement directing the deployment of U.S. troops to “protect war-ravaged Portland” and “ICE facilities under siege” is unlawful, misleading, and dangerous.

The President does not have unilateral authority to deploy the military against U.S. civilians. The Constitution and the Posse Comitatus Act place clear limits on the use of armed forces on domestic soil. Trump’s so-called “order” is not a legal directive; it is political theater, designed to stoke fear.

There is no “war-ravaged Portland.” There is no “siege.” These claims are falsehoods meant to recast peaceful protest and dissent as “domestic terrorism.” Such language is a hallmark of authoritarian regimes: manufacture an enemy, declare emergency powers, and justify repression under the guise of protection.

ICE facilities are not battlefields. They are detention centers already under scrutiny for documented abuse and human rights violations. Branding critics of these practices as “terrorists” is an attempt to criminalize opposition itself.

Let us be clear: Trump is not defending America. He is attempting to turn federal troops into a personal militia and frame his political opponents as enemies of the state. This is not “law and order.” This is lawlessness.

What Portland and every American community truly needs are resources, care, and accountability. Not troops. Not terror. Not fabricated wars waged for political gain.

The only war here is the one Trump is waging against democracy.