• Protests in Portland, ongoing for at least four months, have centered on an ICE facility in the southern part of the city. As reported by The Oregonian, protesters have “numbered in the few dozens on most nights and their activity has largely been confined to a two-block radius of the building’s front driveway.” [Oregon Live, 10/4/25]
• Trump announced on September 27 that he would send “all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland,” which he described as “under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists.” [Truth Social, 9/27/25]
• Trump’s move was seemingly encouraged by a month of dystopian coverage of Portland from right-wing media, which described the city as “under siege” and suggested it resembles “the French Revolution all over again.” Fox host Jesse Watters said that “every weekend is war” in Portland and suggested protesters “look pretty militaristic.” [Media Matters, 9/29/25]
• According to The New York Times, federal officials described protests outside the Portland ICE facility as “low energy” until Trump’s post, after which “demonstrations had grown more intense … with more arrests and larger crowds than in preceding weeks.” According to the Times, reports from the Federal Protective Service in the days before the president’s post “offered no indication of a dangerous escalation of tensions, or unusual levels of protest activity that would prompt the level of alarm expressed by Mr. Trump.” [The New York Times, 10/8/25]
• The Wall Street Journal wrote: “Daily reports from Portland police in the month leading up to Trump’s decision, on Sept. 27, to send federal troops into the city paint a different picture than public statements by Trump and others in his administration.” The Journal further reported: “On Sept. 5, President Trump described ongoing protests in Portland as 'unbelievable' and 'the destruction of the city.' Later that day, a sergeant from the Portland Police Bureau filed his daily observations of the demonstrations outside an ICE facility. 'Saw 8 people out front and couldn’t even get one of them to flip me the bird,' he wrote. 'Very low energy.'” The Journal also noted: “The White House has said the ICE facility is 'under siege.' Newly released police reports filed in federal court describe how the protests that began in June were dwindling before Trump’s order.” [The Wall Street Journal, 10/9/25]

• KGW reporter Evan Watson reported that the area just three blocks away from the ICE facility is “full of people enjoying picnics in the park, out here walking their dogs,” and “enjoying this nice summer evening.” Watson stated, “Every person we talked to on Tuesday laughed at the idea that Portland, and more specifically, this area near their homes and workplaces, needs federal troops.” [KGW, KGW News at 6, 10/7/25]
• KATU reporter Jennifer Singh interviewed a protester outside the ICE facility who said Portland is not a war zone and fears that troops “will bring more violence,” not less. Singh added that the protests “have remained peaceful.” [KATU, KATU News at 6, 10/5/25]
• KOIN reporter Ariel Salk opened a segment by showing the area outside the ICE building where there were “only a couple dozen people” protesting, including “people barbecuing, listening to music.” In contrast, Salk described federal agents “hurling can after can of tear gas” at demonstrators over the weekend, adding that the “smoke really engulfed this whole neighborhood.” [KOIN, KOIN 6 News at 6, 10/6/25]
• Reporting outside the ICE facility, KPTV’s Makenna Marks said there were no “physical altercations or arrests” on Sunday and noted that many protesters were “in pajamas, sharing pastries, throwing a frisbee, and playing board games.” Marks also interviewed a number of residents who said the city “is not war-torn” and argued “the thing that’s harming us is the escalation tactics that Trump’s trying to use to create a narrative that Portland is this boogeyman that requires further militarization.” One resident told Marks, “If the narrative is Portland is a war zone, let’s actually take a look at who’s making it a war zone.” [KPTV, 5 O’Clock News, 10/5/25]
• CNN's Shimon Prokupecz reported on the ground from Portland: “The entire protest zone is less than a block long. ... The rest of Portland is not in chaos.” [CNN, 10/8/25]

• KOIN’s Ariel Salk reported that people on the roof of the ICE facility mocked demonstrators and federal agents arrested multiple protesters while “using several rounds of multicolored tear gas against the crowd.” The correspondent interviewed a protester who said they had elderly people with them and were not expecting the tear gas. [KOIN, KOIN 6 News at 5, 10/4/25]
• Salk later reported that she “personally saw a sniper rifle laser on a woman out here trying to drive into her apartment.” [KOIN, KOIN 6 News at 5, 10/5/25]
• Salk reported on the impacts that the federal response is having on a low-income housing building across the street from the ICE facility, including residents enduring “tear gas spilling into their homes.” A representative from the building told the journalist, “The violent tactics that federal agents are using, including tear gas and pepper balls, are really impacting residents’ quality of life.” The journalist also noted that many residents are veterans who “are experiencing PTSD because of this tear gas, flash bangs, and helicopters that we’ve been seeing and hearing in the skies night after night.” [KOIN, KOIN 6 News at 5, 10/6/25]
• KOIN reporter Ariel Iacobazzi said that Portland officials are accusing federal agents of “shoving peaceful veterans and elderly people to the ground, using impact munitions on peaceful crowds, and spraying pepper spray directly into protesters’ faces.” The segment then showed videos of protesters being pepper-sprayed point-blank by agents. [KOIN, KOIN 6 News at 11, 10/6/25]
• KGW anchor David Molko highlighted claims of excessive force by federal agents, including “the use of pepper spray and impact munitions, things like rubber bullets, on an otherwise peaceful crowd.” The report included footage of a man who had pepper spray directed into the air intake of his inflatable frog costume by federal agents. [KGW, KGW News at 11, 10/6/25]
• KPTV reporter Spencer Schacht spoke with a woman who was maced point-blank by a federal agent “with no warning, no warning at all.” The protester, Leilani Payne, called it a “violent attack” and is currently pursuing a use of force lawsuit against the federal agents. [KPTV, 6 O’Clock News, 10/6/25]

• The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles said, “You can see the pictures of Portland in just the last month or two — it looks like a war zone.” He added that Portland officials are “not protecting one another; you’re letting criminals roam your streets and maraud and kill.” [The Daily Wire, The Michael Knowles Show, 9/29/25]
• Fox host Jesse Watters said that the National Guard is “on the way to do the job Portland police won't do” and claimed that “Portland has been under siege by antifa for four months.” Watters added, “A Portland police rep posted a picture of a sunrise with the caption, ‘“War-ravaged” Portland full of “domestic terrorists.”’ Well, the sun rises in Gaza, too. I don’t want to live there.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 10/1/25]
• The Five co-host Kayleigh McEnany attempted to justify the deployment of the National Guard in Portland by declaring there is “a pretty clear rebellion against" the government. McEnany cited supposed acts of violence committed against ICE agents, and she additionally argued that Trump is on “strong legal footing” because “you can federalize the Guard if there's a rebellion.” [Fox News, The Five, 10/6/25]
• Newsmax host Rob Finnerty said Portland protests had “morphed into an insurrection.” Finnerty said: “This invasion of the weird is very bizarre,” adding, “Notice the foreign flags and strange tribal chants happening — again — in Oregon.” [Newsmax, Finnerty, 10/2/25]
• On War Room, right-wing influencer Jack Posobiec said, “Portland as a city is now in open insurrection against the federal government.” Posobiec argued, “This is an actual insurrection scenario whereby in you have local officials that are completely defying the unmitigated right, the unlimited right of the federal government to enforce immigration laws.” He also posted on social media that the city “has fallen to Antifa.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 10/6/25; Twitter/X, 10/6/25] 
• Daily Wire host Matt Walsh called Portland a “war zone” and said it’s “in a state of open insurrection.” “It's total chaos,” he said. “It's in a state of open insurrection. ICE agents are being attacked. Portland is trying to subvert the authority of the federal government, defy the laws of the land.” [Daily Wire, The Matt Walsh Show, 10/7/25]
• Right-wing YouTuber Benny Johnson claimed Portland “has been conquered by antifa.” He added, “This is a fallen city.” [YouTube, The Benny Show, 10/8/25]

Update (10/10/25): This piece has been updated with additional information.