Ex-Republican analyst Tim Miller, the host of The Bulwark's eponymous podcast, said on Monday that President Donald Trump's administration appears to be "champing at the bit" to create conflict in Portland, Oregon, which would justify his sending national guard troops to the city.
Last week, Trump threatened in a social media post on Truth Social to send federal troops to Portland "to protect War ravaged (sic) Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists." About 200 troops will be sent to Portland for about two months, according to media reports. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, a Democrat, has sued the administration to reverse Trump's order.
'I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary," Trump said in the post.
"To me, this one is a little bit more ominous than even the suggestions of sending into my own city in New Orleans, where it's just kind of preposterous and mockable and bad," Miller said. "But like in this case, I do wonder if they're champing at the bit for a conflict here and maybe see Portland as an opportunity for that."
Analysts have speculated that the Trump administration is seeking to provoke left-wing protesters to justify a crackdown on political dissent. Miller said the development is concerning because there have been "intense skirmishes" between law enforcement and protesters in Portland, especially during the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.
"That's kind of an obvious point that that's what they want," Miller said. "But just in a sensibly sort of neutral reporting effort of the administration...the administration would see it as a victory for there to be more civil unrest, so they could use the military to crack down more. It's like it's pretty astonishing."