Top Trump administration officials were discussing plans to deploy an elite military division to Portland, Oregon, according to leaked text messages reviewed and reported on by the Minnesota Star Tribune late Friday.
“Between you and I, I think [Defense Secretary] Pete [Hegseth] just wants the top cover from the boss if anything goes sideways with the troops there,” wrote Patrick Weaver, Hegseth’s advisor, in a text message on the encrypted messaging app Signal, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune.
“82nd is like our top tier [quick reaction force] for abroad. So it will cause a lot of headlines. Probably why he wants [Trump] to tell him to do it.”
Hegseth has already deployed 200 National Guard troops into Portland at the direction of President Donald Trump. But, according to Weaver’s messages, plans were actively being discussed to deploy the Army’s 82nd Airborne infantry division, an elite military unit that specializes in rapid deployment and parachute assaults.
Weaver’s messages were sent to Deputy Homeland Security Advisor Anthony Salisbury and other high-level officials, with Salisbury receiving said messages and responding – sometimes “profanely” – while in “clear view of others” during an event in Minnesota, leading one individual who was “troubled by seeing sensitive military planning discussed so openly” to contact the Minnesota Star Tribune with images of the text messages, and under the condition of anonymity.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson declined to comment on the subject matter of the test messages to the Minnesota Star Tribune, but did chastise the outlet for “shamefully” reporting on the information, and called its reporters “morally bankrupt.”
The 82nd Airborne division has been deployed in both world wars, and most subsequent wars the United States has been involved in. While its deployment in Portland would be unprecedented, Hegseth – according to the Minnesota Star Tribune’s reporting – was at least actively considering it, and awaiting explicit approval from Trump to give the order.
Trump has justified his order to deploy troops to Portland by calling the city “war-ravaged,” with the deployment coming after deployments in Chicago, Illinois, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles, California.