A federal judge has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s attempt to federalize and deploy the Oregon National Guard to Portland.
U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut issued a temporary restraining order late on Saturday barring the deployment of the troops for at least 14 days.
Trump took social media last month to declare that he was sending National Guard troops to “war-ravaged Portland,” citing the need to protect immigration facilities there.
PORTLAND, OREGON – OCTOBER 04: Federal agents, including members of the Department of Homeland Security, the Border Patrol, and police, attempt to keep protesters back outside a downtown U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility on October 04, 2025 in Portland, Oregon. The facility has become a focal point of nightly protests against the Trump administration and his announcement that he will be sending National Guard troops into Portland.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
But the judge said Trump’s determination about the purported chaos in Portland was “simply untethered to the facts,” and said he likely exceeded his authority under the Constitution.
The judge also warned the Trump administration’s actions risk blurring the line between civil and military rule.
“This country has a longstanding and foundational tradition of resistance to government overreach, especially in the form of military intrusion into civil affairs,” Immergut wrote. “This historical tradition boils down to a simple proposition: this is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law. Defendants have made a range of arguments that, if accepted, risk blurring the line between civil and military federal power—to the detriment of this nation.”
Despite Trump’s claims, Immergut said that the protests in Portland have not been “significantly violent or disruptive” and are insufficient to federalize the National Guard.
Customs and Border Patrol agents stand outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility during a protest on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, in Portland, Ore.
Jenny Kane/AP
While the president is usually entitled to “a great level of deference,” she said that “is not equivalent to ignoring the facts on the ground.”
She said Trump’s own statements regarding the deployment of federalized National Guardsmen “further support that his determination was not ‘conceived in good faith.’”
Immergut concluded that Trump’s attempt exceeds his authority under the federal law and violates the Tenth Amendment, infringing on the state of Oregon’s sovereignty.
“Put simply, the issues at stake in this case are important, and the consequences of this Court’s decision are far-reaching. As soon as the federalized National Guard deploys to Portland, the state of Oregon will suffer an injury to its sovereignty,” she wrote.
“This case involves the intersection of three of the most fundamental principles in our constitutional democracy,” the judge wrote, describing them as the relationship between the federal government and the states; the relationship between the U.S. armed forces and domestic law enforcement; and the role of the courts.
“Whether we choose to follow what the Constitution mandates with respect to these three relationships goes to the heart of what it means to live under the rule of law in the United States,” Immergut wrote.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
