Tina Kotek:
In my conversations directly with President Trump and Secretary Noem, I have been abundantly clear with them that Portland and the State of Oregon believe in the rule of law, and we can manage our own local public safety needs. There is no insurrection. There is no threat to national security. There is no need for military troops in our major city. Military service members should be dedicated to real emergencies.
The members of the Oregon National Guard—their mission is to stand up and protect Oregonians, and they will do that every day—but they are not needed in the city. They are not needed here.
You can tell because you’re here with me in Portland. You can see that this city is safe and calm. It is a beautiful day to be here. For those of you who are here downtown or watching at home, you know that our city is not the place that people think it is from years ago.
There’s business thriving. People are coming downtown. They are enjoying this community. We have students who are ready to go see The Lion King tonight at the Keller Auditorium. People are going to the Timbers match. People are downtown shopping. Folks who are getting ready to go to work at the restaurants here that make the Rose City a culinary capital are preparing for their shifts.
People are shopping. People are going to the farmer’s markets or the Saturday Market. Portland is doing just fine. I made that very clear to the President this morning. Our city is a far cry from the war-ravaged community that he has posted about on social media. I conveyed that directly to him: we got this, we are good, we are doing fine.
I also said to him: we have to be careful not to respond to outdated media coverage or misinformation that’s out there. We know what’s happening in our own city, and we are doing just fine. That being said, we do face real challenges in Portland, as does the rest of the country. We’re worried about the cost of living. We want our schools to do what is necessary for our students, and we want to make sure that people have good jobs and homes they can afford.
I need help for those kinds of things—and that’s the help I need—not having military troops from the federal government in our state.
President Trump’s inconceivable insistence that we need federal troops in Portland does not address the real concerns in our communities. We do not need or want federal troops in Oregon stoking fear, creating conflict, and frankly, escalating a situation that is under control.
Any federal takeover with military troops in our state is a threat to communities across Oregon. It violates our right to govern ourselves. It interferes with local law enforcement’s ability to fulfill their mission. Frankly, it drains taxpayer resources that could be better spent elsewhere. Again, I communicated that to the President directly.
Oregon is our home. It is not a military target. Any deployment would be an abuse of power and a misuse of federal troops. People across the state and across the political spectrum here in Oregon are uniting together to peacefully oppose policies they do not agree with.
I believe in free speech and the ability to lawfully and peacefully protest. I have a message for Oregonians: let’s not take the bait. Let’s not respond to what the President is trying to do.
We have to raise our voices—absolutely peacefully—for the things that we believe in. But I also want to say that any property damage or violence of any kind will get us nowhere and will not be tolerated.
If you want to stand in opposition to the Trump administration, I would ask that you lean into supporting your community, helping people, making things better here—because that’s who we are as Oregonians.
I just want to wrap up by saying I believe the President does not have the authority to deploy federal troops on state soil. I’m coordinating with Attorney General Dan Rayfield to see if any response is necessary, and we will be prepared to respond if we have to.