Portland, Oregon, is on track to face a Trump crime crackdown reckoning that’s more than five years in the making.

Portland was ravaged by violence in 2020 as liberal protesters, Black Lives Matter activists, Antifa anarchists and others converged on the deep blue stronghold following the death of George Floyd during an interaction with Minneapolis police on Memorial Day of that year. 

The Trump administration deployed federal law enforcement to help quell the violence near federal property, but did not roll out crime crackdown initiatives on par with what the president is currently unveiling in cities such as Washington, D.C., this year. 

Now, President Donald Trump has set his sights on the left-wing city to remove illegal immigrants and crack down on crime trends — five years after the city saw millions of dollars in damages and witnessed consecutive nights of rioting that began on Memorial Day and continued into September 2020. 

TRUMP VOWS ‘FULL FORCE’ AS HE PLANS TO SEND TROOPS TO PORTLAND AMID ANTI-ICE PROTESTS

«At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, I am directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists,» Trump posted to Truth Social on Saturday morning.

«I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary. Thank you for your attention to this matter!» he added.

George Floyd’s death on Memorial Day in 2020 sparked nationwide protests and riots, but in Portland, unrest raged for more than 100 consecutive nights, with the city recording a staggering 144% increase in homicides between 2019 and 2021, and millions of dollars in damages to businesses and government buildings. 

Trump was in office during the riots and protests of 2020, as his administration juggled the coronavirus pandemic — including state lockdowns and vaccine requirements for some workers — while Trump faced Joe Biden and the Democratic Party at the ballot box.

Trump railed against the violence that played out in The City of Roses, while the Department of Homeland Security launched the Protecting American Communities Task Force to protect federal monuments, memorials, and other buildings from violence and vandalism in the city and other crime-rattled cities like it. 

OREGON SUES OVER TRUMP ADMIN’S ‘WAR-RAVAGED PORTLAND’ NATIONAL GUARD TROOP DEPLOYMENT

The task force was formed after rioters broke into the Multnomah County Justice Center at the end of May, igniting a fire inside and spray-painting the building. The justice center houses Portland police headquarters and a county jail, and sits next to the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse.

The federal courthouse faced repeated vandalism, including rioters launching fireworks at the building, graffiting the exterior with anti-police slogans, and breaking its windows. The task force worked to protect the Hatfield building, as well as a handful of other federal buildings, from attacks, Fox News Digital previously reported. 

Demonstrators shield from tear gas fired by federal officers during a protest at the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in Portland, Ore., July 24, 2020. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Photo)

«These are anarchists. These are not protesters. People say protesters. These people are anarchists. These are people that hate our country. And we’re not going to let it go forward,» Trump said in July 2020, while claiming that violence-plagued cities needed «more federal law enforcement» and celebrating that the law enforcement deployed to Portland had «done a fantastic job.»

Trump railed against local Democratic leaders at the time for failing to end the violence when it first began, including slamming then-Mayor Ted Wheeler as «incompetent» and a «fool,» as well as messages against then-Gov. Kate Brown, while underscoring that federal law enforcement would clean the city up. 

OREGON COUNTY LOST $1 BILLION IN 2020 AS RESIDENTS FLED CRIME, HOMELESSNESS: ‘IT’S LIKE PORTLAND DIED’

Federal officers fire crowd control munitions at protesters outside the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in Portland, Ore., July 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Federal law enforcement officials on the task force, however, were phased out of the city that summer, with local police replacing federal officers who worked to protect federal buildings beginning at the end of July.

Critics accused Trump of abusing power by deploying federal authorities to Portland. A coalition of Democratic mayors — including leaders from Washington, D.C., Portland and Chicago — urged Congress to block further deployments, arguing it threatened the First Amendment.

PORTLAND RIOTS CAUSED AT LEAST $2.3M IN DAMAGE TO FEDERAL BUILDINGS IN CITY, STATE’S US ATTORNEY SAYS

Protests and riots continued in the city in the fall months of 2020 — when the final leg of the federal election dominated headlines – and after federal officials left the city. Federal law enforcement officials had been phased out of the city by Aug. 31, according to a DHS Inspector General report published in 2021. 

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before departing the White House, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

All told, the riots caused an estimated $2.3 million in damages to federal buildings in Portland alone, Fox News Digital previously reported, while Portland police reported spending at least $6.2 million to cover overtime and personnel costs for just roughly one month of the riots, and businesses in the downtown area lost tens of millions of dollars in revenue and damages due to the protests and riots, the police chief said at the time. 

In the fallout, the police department’s staffing woes worsened as the city defunded its force and morale cratered; homicides hit an all-time high in November 2022 – recording 101 homicides that year – and shootings increased across the city, with Portland recording more than 1,000 shootings across the first 10 months of 2021. 

AT LEAST 16 CITIES SEE RECORD HOMICIDES IN 2021

Trump has been on a crime crackdown blitz since his second inauguration, as agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security launched massive deportation efforts to remove the millions of illegal immigrants who flooded the nation under the Biden era, and Trump turned his attention to individual cities he believes are in need of assistance on law and order. 

Trump federalized the Washington, D.C., police department on Aug. 11 and deployed the National Guard to patrol the city. Trump has celebrated the federalization of Washington, D.C.’s police force as a success, including notching zero homicides across a 13-day period in August, and arresting more than 2,000 suspects for crime stretching from illegal firearms charges to immigration arrests. He has also lauded Democratic D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser for her assistance with the effort. 

National Guard troops patrol Washington, D.C., after Trump ordered their deployment in August 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

«We don’t have a crime problem in Washington anymore,» Trump told reporters earlier in September of the crackdown. «And the mayor has been very helpful.» 

Two hundred National Guard members are expected to converge on Portland in the coming days. The campaign follows Chicago’s ongoing «Midway Blitz» crime crackdown to weed out illegal immigrants in the Windy City, and as Memphis, Tennessee, prepares to receive its own teams of federal law enforcement and National Guard members later this week to combat crime in the southern city. 

Portland has seen ongoing issues with crime, including rampant drug use and homelessness, and has seen flaring protests over the summer — most notable near a Portland ICE facility — as the Trump administration carried out various immigration crackdowns across the country. 

Anti-ICE graffiti was scrawled on the outside of the Portland ICE facility, while the demonstrations have become violent at times between protesters and federal agents, prompting authorities to use rubber bullets, tear gas and flash bangs to break up the crowds, Fox Digital reported earlier this month. 

In August, protesters displayed a guillotine and fought with police before officers fired munitions to disperse the crowd.

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Oregon sued the Trump administration on Sunday in an attempt to prevent the deployment of 200 National Guard members to Portland. The National Guard members began arriving to the city over the weekend, Fox Digital previously reported. 

Local leaders have slammed Trump’s order as «unlawful,» while arguing the city poses no threat to national security. 

«Our city is a far cry from the war-ravaged community he has posted on social media,» Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek told reporters at a news conference on Sunday. Kotek added that she spoke directly with Trump.

«There is no insurrection, there is no threat to national security and there is no need for military troops in our major city,» she added.

Fox News Digital’s Cameron Arcand, Michael Dorgan and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report. 

El poder de compra en crisis

Americanización y comidas rápidas

«¿En qué momento ofreces un postre por 8 euros, una Coca-Cola por 4 y una comida para microondas por 25?», se pregunta una clienta. Foto The New York Times

Macron al rescate

Francia aún cuenta con 175.000 restaurantes, un récord en Europa.

Cierran 25 restaurantes por día

Los aficionados dañan la cocina

The United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS) has come under fire for potentially prioritizing cultural sensitivity over significant health concerns after it published a report last week questioning a major issue of public debate — should first-cousin marriages be banned?

Debate over the issue heightened earlier this year after U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would not ban the practice outright, despite known risks to future generations, as children born from first cousins are at increased risk for diseases like sickle cell disease and cystic fibrosis.

Starmer, along with members of his Labour government, has argued that education should be prioritized instead of overreaching government mandates.

BRITISH PM CRITICIZED FOR BLOCKING BILL BANNING FIRST-COUSIN MARRIAGE AMID MOUNTING HEALTH CONCERNS

The article, which was posted to the NHS’s Genomics Education Program’s website and titled, «Should the UK government ban first-cousin marriage,» had been removed by Monday morning, and Fox News Digital could not gain direct access to the report, nor did the NHS immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s questions. 

According to U.K.-based media outlets, the article caused some uproar after it suggested there were certain «benefits» to first-cousin marriages, including «stronger extended family support systems and economic advantages,» the Telegraph reported. 

The NHS report also noted that inter-family marriages have «long been the subject of scientific discussion» due to the increased risk of inherited diseases, and that first-cousin marriages have been legal in the U.K. since the 1500s, when King Henry VIII married Catherine Howard, his ex-wife’s cousin.

First cousin marriages are also not federally banned in the U.S., where the practice is still permitted in 20 states.

ELON MUSK WADES BACK INTO UK POLITICS, BACKS LEADER OF NEW RIGHT-WING PARTY, MOCKS RIVAL

St. John Ambulance neonatal intensive care ambulances lined up at charging units outside the Royal London Hospital on May 25, 2023, in London. (Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images)

The article also noted that there are risks of genetic disorders related to other external factors like alcohol use during pregnancy and smoking. The age of the parents can also impact certain disorders. 

The report pointed out that «none of [these factors] are banned in the U.K.»

«Genetic counseling, awareness-raising initiatives and public health campaigns are all important tools to help families make informed decisions without stigmatizing certain communities and cultural traditions,» the article added, according to the Telegraph.

The article, first posted last week, drew rebuke from conservative Tories like Member of Parliament Richard Holden, who accused the Labour government, headed by Starmer, of «taking the knee to damaging and oppressive cultural practices.»

«The Conservatives want to see an end to cousin marriage as a backdoor to immigration too, but Labour are deaf to these sensible demands,» he told the Daily Mail.

Similarly, Conservative Member of Parliament Claire Coutinho took to X on Monday to say, «The NHS puts conditions on IVF by age, BMI and history of conception. The NHS tells you (a lot) not to smoke or drink during pregnancy. But the NHS won’t say a word against cousin marriage.»

The Daily Mail report also noted that the NHS article said in first-cousin marriages the increased risk of being born with a genetic condition was «small.»

«In the general population, a child’s chance of being born with a genetic condition is around two to three percent; this increases to four to six percent in children of first cousins. Hence, most children of first cousins are healthy,» the article said, according to the Daily Mail.

Conservative Party Chairman Richard Holden leaves Downing Street after the weekly cabinet meeting on March 12, 2024, in London. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

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The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, who oversees the NHS, did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s questions for this report.

Proponents of the ban in the U.K. tend to be conservative Tories, while Labor officials have argued the ban insensitively targets certain cultures, like British Pakistanis, where in-family marriages are more common. 

Starmer’s cabinet office directed Fox News Digital’s questions to the Department of Health and Social Care, who did not immediately provide comment for this report. 

Holden also could not be immediately reached for this report.