Trump authorises 'full force' troop deployment in Portland

WASHINGTON (AFP)

US President Donald Trump on Saturday authorised the deployment of troops in the northwestern US city of Portland, extending his domestic use of the military to support a mass immigration crackdown.

A deployment in Portland -- Oregon's largest city -- would follow similar moves by the president to mobilise troops in Los Angeles and Washington DC.

“At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, I am directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

ICE is the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the main agency carrying out mass deportation in the US.

The president added he was "also authorising Full Force, if necessary," without elaborating.

Trump first deployed troops in Los Angeles in June, overriding the state's governor, and followed by a surge of troops and Federal agents to the US capital.

The Portland announcement comes days after a deadly shooting at an ICE facility in Texas, in which one detainee was killed and two severely injured. Federal officials say the gunman, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot, had sought to target ICE agents from a nearby rooftop.

Weeks earlier, conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot dead at a university campus.

On Thursday, Trump signed an order directing the FBI to investigate and disrupt "organised political violence".