I spent nearly my entire young life in Oregon, and lived just outside Portland during my high school years. I’ve had family live there, and spent plenty of time myself in what I think is one of the most beautiful cities in the country. Likely, if you’ve remotely kept your ear to the ground following recent US politics, you’ve heard of the protests, national guard, and recent “war-torn” status given to Portland. Speaking to my friends who are still there, I’ve noticed that there’s often a disconnect between what people hear about and what people actually see in the city. There’s frequent confusion and misinformation surrounding President Trump and Secretary Kristi Noem’s statements about what’s going on in Portland. In the hopes of clearing up what’s been said and what’s been happening, this is a timeline of summer and autumn in Portland politics.
Sanctuary Status and Protests
June 13th, 2025, Portland leaders came together to speak on Portland’s status as a sanctuary city. Furthermore, Oregon is a sanctuary state. You might have heard that term thrown around regarding cities like New York City – it’s most famously one of mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s popular policies. According to the City of Portland, what that means is that there are policies in place to protect immigrants from within city borders from deportation and prosecution, to a certain extent. I’ll touch more on this later, as there were recent additions to these policies in October 2025. The same weekend as the talks, the first No Kings rally was held in Portland. Select protests prior to this one, during the first Trump Administration, had taken a violent turn; the Portland Tribune stated that “Unlike violent clashes that occurred downtown during the first Trump administration, the crowd late Saturday morning was peaceful.” It’s possible the city’s “war-torn” image can be attributed to both police clashes with protestors 5-10 years prior.
National Guard Deployment
September 28th, 2025, President Trump deployed 200 national guard troops to Portland for 60 days to protect ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officers in the city. This was preceded by the same in Los Angeles, and followed by an attempt to do the same in Chicago. Similar statements were made about violence and unrest in those cities – 4,000 national guard troops were sent to LA earlier this year, the most notable instance. To hastily generalize, these mobilizations are largely in response to residents of cities with democratic mayors and their retaliation against ICE activities in their cities. While these have mostly been peaceful protests, they have been characterized by members of the federal government as acts by “domestic terrorists”. Oregon Governor Tina Kotek’s response was to sue the federal government for violating state sovereignty and overstating local unrest. On October 7th, Secretary Kristi Noem made an appearance in the city, to see for herself, posting a now-viral video from the roof of a building watching very few people, deemed an “army”.
Recent News
The unofficial-official motto of Portland is “Keep Portland Weird”, and city residents tend to do just that. October 15th, 2025, Portland hosted a Naked Bike Ride to protest the Trump administration’s actions surrounding immigration and perceived overreach. Again, not exactly what anyone would call violent or hostile – just people clad in Timbers scarves and bike helmets (and not much else). Inflatable costumes, such as the famous frog, have gained traction beginning with Portland protests and now global ones. On that same day, city officials codified Portland’s status as a sanctuary city, writing in new laws governing federal action permitted in the city. On Saturday, October 18th, Portlanders, as well as Oregon residents from dozens of surrounding cities and towns, joined the worldwide No Kings protests. An Oregon judge placed a temporary block on troops’ deployment to Portland, and the fight for who has final say over activity in the city is still ongoing.