White House to Review Possible Aid Cuts to Portland

President Donald Trump has asked for a review of federal funds allocated to Portland, Oregon, amid a rash of protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) there. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press briefing on Oct. 3 that federal funds could be cut off to the Democrat-run city. 

“I just spoke with the president about this, and he has directed his team here at the White House to begin reviewing aid that can potentially be cut in Portland,” she said. “We will not fund states that allow anarchy.”

Leavitt said that local police have been “restricted from responding or cooperating at all with federal authorities,” calling it “completely absurd.”

The press secretary also addressed the arrest by Portland police of independent journalist Nick Sortor on Thursday night for disorderly conduct at demonstrations in Portland, saying there would be a “full investigation” by the Department of Justice.

According to Leavitt, Sortor was defending himself from protesters, and she criticized police for the arrest of “a journalist who was there to document the chaos.”

The ICE facility has been the site of constant protests and clashes, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that criminals and groups affiliated with the Antifa extremist group, which Trump recently designated as a domestic terrorist organization, have attempted to doxx, or reveal the personal information of, ICE officers in the city.

On Sept. 28, War Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a memorandum to the leadership of the Oregon National Guard requesting 200 service members to be temporarily moved to federal service. 

The state of Oregon filed a lawsuit attempting to block the federal government’s plan to deploy National Guard troops to Portland, saying that doing so would extend past executive authority.

Trump said that the White House is acting within its authority because of the months of violent unrest near the city’s federal immigration facilities. 

“President Trump is using his lawful authority to direct the National Guard to protect federal assets and personnel in Portland following months of violent riots where officers have been assaulted and doxxed by left-wing rioters,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.

“The President’s lawful actions will make Portland safer.”

The decision to send troops to Portland came almost two months after the Aug. 11 federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department in the nation’s capital, which the Trump administration and the city’s mayor said had led to a decline in criminal activities. 

As of Oct. 2, the FBI Portland field office said there have been 128 arrests connected to combating criminal activity at the ICE facility since June 9. 

The city of Portland has been at odds with the Trump administration, with the City announcing last month that it would issue a land use violation notice against an ICE building, accusing the agency of holding detainees in a way that does not “comply with the conditions of the site’s land use approval.”

“Federal government records from a 10-month period show more than two dozen detention policy violations of the facility’s land use conditions of approval with the city, which does not allow detainees to be kept overnight or held for more than 12 hours,” Oregon’s largest city said in a statement on Sept. 17. 

Jack Phillips and Melanie Sun contributed to this report.