Federal Judge Blocks Trump’s National Guard Deployment to Portland, Citing ‘Untethered to Facts’ Order

On October 4, 2025, a federal district court judge, Karin Immergut, issued a temporary restraining order blocking President Donald Trump’s directive to deploy 200 National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon. The Trump-appointed judge ruled that the president’s order was “simply untethered to the facts,” finding that protest activity in the city had been “small and uneventful” for months.

The decision came after the state of Oregon and the city of Portland sued the federal government, arguing that President Trump had exceeded his legal and constitutional authority. Trump had ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to deploy troops on September 27, 2025, claiming Portland was “War ravaged” and needed protection from “Antifa, and other domestic terrorists,” authorizing “Full Force, if necessary.” This directive followed sustained right-wing media commentary portraying Portland as a city consumed by chaos.

However, Judge Immergut, a former U.S. Attorney under President George W. Bush and a Trump nominee to the bench, determined that the president had not met the statutory requirements for federalizing the National Guard. Her review found that as of September 27, 2025, there had been no “sustained level of violent or disruptive protest activity” in Portland for months, with only “sporadic events” that could be handled by regular law enforcement.

The judge emphasized the critical distinction between civil and military power, stating, “This country has a longstanding and foundational tradition of resistance to government overreach, especially in the form of military intrusion into civil affairs… This is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law.” Her ruling underscores a significant legal check on presidential authority regarding domestic troop deployment.

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