Newsom Blasts Trump for Deploying California Guard to Oregon

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday condemned President Donald Trump’s decision to send 300 California National Guard members to Portland, Oregon, a day after a federal court blocked Trump’s attempt to seize control of the Oregon Guard.

“This is a breathtaking abuse of the law and power,” Newsom said in a statement. “The commander-in-chief is using the U.S. military as a political weapon against American citizens.”

The deployment came after a Trump-appointed federal judge ruled that the administration lacked legal authority to federalize Oregon’s Guard and ordered control returned to the state. In a sharply worded opinion, the judge wrote, “This is a nation of constitutional law, not martial law,” and said the administration’s justification for using federalized troops was “untethered to the facts” and not “conceived in good faith.”

Despite that order, Trump redirected 300 federally controlled California Guard members — originally activated months earlier for civil unrest in Los Angeles — to Portland. Newsom accused the president of ignoring the court and “treating judges, even those appointed by him, as political opponents.”

“This isn’t about public safety, it’s about power,” the governor said. “We will take this fight to court, but the public cannot stay silent in the face of such reckless and authoritarian conduct by the president of the United States.”