Governor Newsom to sue, urges Americans to speak out on Trump’s “breathtaking abuse of power” with cross-state Guard deployment

​​SACRAMENTO - Governor Gavin Newsom today issued the following statement in response to the Trump Administration deploying 300 California National Guard personnel into Portland, Oregon, after a federal district court blocked the attempted federalization of Oregon's National Guard:

In response to a federal court order that blocked his attempt to federalize the Oregon National Guard, President Trump is deploying 300 California National Guard personnel into Oregon. They are on their way there now. This is a breathtaking abuse of the law and power. The Trump Administration is unapologetically attacking the rule of law itself and putting into action their dangerous words - ignoring court orders and treating judges, even those appointed by the President himself, as political opponents.

This isn't about public safety, it's about power. The commander-in-chief is using the U.S. military as a political weapon against American citizens. 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.

Governor Gavin Newsom

Trump illegally sends California troops to Oregon

Despite a federal court order finding no legal basis to deploy state National Guard troops to the streets of Portland and ordering that control of the Oregon National Guard be returned to state command, the Trump Administration is now sending 300 federally controlled members of the California National Guard to Portland to take their place. The troops had originally been federalized months ago in response to unrest in Los Angeles - conditions that never necessitated their deployment in the first place, and have long since subsided anyway.

Courts rebuke Trump's lawlessness

In its ruling yesterday, the federal judge appointed by President Trump rejected the Trump Administration's justification for deploying federalized troops, writing in its order:

"This historical tradition boils down to a simple proposition: this is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law. Defendants have made a range of arguments that, if accepted, risk blurring the line between civil and military federal power - to the detriment of this nation."

The court found that the President's own statements regarding the deployment of federalized National Guard were not "conceived in good faith" and were "simply untethered to the facts."