WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump announced Saturday that he ordered US troops to be deployed to Portland, Oregon, citing alleged threats to federal facilities and the city’s public safety.

"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 said on Truth Social.

Trump said he is also "authorizing full force, if necessary."

Federal agents and protesters have faced off regularly outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building near Portland’s south waterfront, with demonstrators showing up daily at the facility for months.

Portland leaders urged calm amid reports of a surge in federal officers at the ICE building. City officials, who are critical of Trump’s treatment of migrants, have sought to close the site, citing a land use violation. At issue, officials say, is the use of the facility for overnight detentions in violation of granted permits.

It is unclear which branch of the military Trump is planning to send, but he has previously deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles and Washington, DC, and is in the works to do so in Memphis, Tennessee. He also deployed the Marines to Los Angeles to quell unrest over his immigration crackdown.

Trump has repeatedly singled out Portland as he ramps up his campaign against what he calls the “radical left” in the country and has suggested that he would be taking action against the city of some 2.5 million people.

On Monday, Trump signed an executive order designating the Antifa movement as a domestic terrorist organization. Antifa, short for anti-fascist, is a left-wing political culture more than an organization with a fixed leadership and members.

Following the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk earlier this month, the White House vowed to step up its targeting of left-wing groups, accusing them of being behind the killing as well as most other political violence.

Trump’s critics pointed out that no motive has been announced for the Kirk killing, and no groups have been implicated. They also cite numerous studies saying that right-wing groups and actors are responsible for most of the violent political acts committed in the US.