Trump To Oregon, Portland Officials: ‘Would Bring In National Guard, End Problem Immediately. ASK!’

On Saturday, fed-up with the ineffectiveness of law enforcement to deal with the riots that had reached 86 consecutive days in Portland, President Trump reiterated his call for sending in the National Guard, but this time forcefully urged Oregon state officials and Portland city officials to request Trump to do so, tweeting:

Another bad night of Rioting in Portland, Oregon. A small number of Federal troops there to protect courthouse and other Federal property only (great job!). Wanting to be asked by City & State to STOP THE RIOTS. Would bring in National Guard, end problem immediately. ASK!

“Tensions between cops and protesters reached a boiling point early Saturday, with police declaring a riot after crowds gathered outside the Portland Police Bureau’s north precinct and began throwing projectiles at officers. Earlier in the evening, about 200 demonstrators had gathered at Irving Park before marching a mile down to the police station in protective gear including helmets, gas masks, body armor and homemade wooden shields,” The Daily Mail reported.

At the end of July, Trump threatened to send the National Guard into Portland. He was asked at a July 30 press conference, “Are you confident, sir, that the State of Oregon will be able to quell the protests in Portland and if the violence does continue, would you consider re-deploying federal troops?”

Trump responded:

The Governor and the Mayor, we’ve been dealing with them and we think they don’t know what they’re doing because this should not have been going on for 60 days. It’s not our job unless in case of emergency, which I consider now to be an emergency. It’s not our job to go in and clean out the cities. That’s supposed to be done by local law enforcement.

Yesterday, the Governor worked a deal where they’ll do it. We’ll stand by, they’ll do it. And that’s good. That was very good, but she didn’t report it that way. What she reported was totally different. She said, “I think Trump wants to take over the country.” It’s crazy. So what happened is our people are staying there to see whether or not they could do it today and tomorrow. And if they don’t do it, we will send in the National Guard and we’ll take care of it.

And we’re telling them right now, these protesters, and many should be arrested because these are professional agitators. These are professional anarchists. These are people that hate our country. We’re telling them right now that we’re coming in very soon. The National Guard, a lot of people, a lot of very tough people, and these are not people that just have to guard the courthouse and save it, these are people that are allowed to go forward and do what they have to do.

And I think that makes the Governor’s job and the Mayor’s job a lot easier. So they’re working today and probably tomorrow to clean out this beehive of terrorists. And if they do it, I’m going to be very happy. And then slowly we can start to leave the city. If they don’t do it, we’ll be sending in the National Guard.