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tina kotek
'Unhinged Despotism': Critics Slam Trump's Willingness to Invoke Insurrection Act
"A Trump-led deployment of federalized guard and active-duty troops to quell a fabricated insurrection inside American cities should only be understood as war on the American people," said one observer.
Oct 06, 2025
President Donald Trump on Monday said he was open to invoking the Insurrection Act to put down future civil unrest in US cities, drawing sharp condemnation from legal experts and other critics, some of whom accused the president of trying to foment disorder that would justify his authoritarian actions.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office about his deployment of federal forces to Portland, Oregon a day after a federal judge blocked his move to send hundreds of National Guard troops to the peaceful city, Trump said that he did not believe it was necessary to invoke the Insurrection Act yet, but "if I had to enact it, I'd do it, if people were being killed and courts were holding us up, or governors or mayors were holding us up."
Courts, governors, and mayors have all resisted Trump's efforts to invade Democrat-controlled cities under the pretext of combating crime and unauthorized immigration.
"You look at what's happening with Portland over the years, it's a burning hellhole," Trump baselessly claimed. "And then you have a judge that lost her way that tries to pretend that there's no problem."
Trump was referring to US District Judge Karin Immergut—whom he appointed during his first term—after she found that his reasoning regarding his administration's response to protests at a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Portland were "untethered to facts."
The Insurrection Act of 1807 is a federal law that allows the president to deploy the US military domestically or federalize state National Guard troops to put down any unrest the White House deems to be an uprising.
Trump said Monday that he believes there is a "criminal insurrection" in Portland.
Trump is now threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act to bully courts into letting his illegal military occupations proceed unchecked by rule of law.Inventing a fake crisis wholesale to bulldoze what's left of constitutional restraints: Unhinged despotism.Okay, then. Make him invoke it.
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— Greg Sargent (@gregsargent.bsky.social) October 6, 2025 at 2:57 PM
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller also contended Monday that there is a "legal insurrection" being committed by judges who rule against the Trump administration. Miller said these judges are attacking "the laws and Constitution of the United States"
Some social media users pointed out that Trump was impeached for a second time for his role in inciting the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday sent a memo to Democratic Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek announcing the administration's federalization of 200 National Guard troops "to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other US government personnel."
The memo cited Trump's deployment earlier this year of 4,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles—a move that a federal judge ruled was illegal and portends the creation of "a national police force with the president as its chief."
Kotek responded to the memo by noting that "there is no insurrection in Portland. No threat to national security. No fires, no bombs, no fatalities due to civil unrest. The only threat we face is to our democracy—and it is being led by President Donald Trump."
"The only threat we face is to our democracy—and it is being led by President Donald Trump."
According to The Washington Post, approximately 100 California National Guard troops were sent to Portland after midnight Sunday and around 100 more arrived later in the day. Local leaders and residents said there is no reason for the invasion.
As the Post reported:
Residents of Portland responded to Trump's description of their city with a mix of indignation and bemusement. "WarRavagedPortland" quickly became a popular social media hashtag on photos and video showing bustling farmers markets, peaceful parks, and sparkling vistas of the Willamette River.
Trump's remarks followed his speech to hundreds of US generals and admirals last week, in which he declared that the country is "under invasion from within" and that the military leaders should use American cities as "training grounds" to target domestic "enemies."
The president's remarks drew warnings of encroaching fascism as his administration expands its invasion and occupation of US communities, from Washington, DC to Chicago to Portland. On Saturday, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) asserted that "Trump's troops are deliberately attacking peaceful protesters to incite violence."
A core principle of this nation is that the military should not be asked to turn its weapons against fellow Americans. We cannot allow this unprecedented militarization of American cities to become normalized. Read: wapo.st/4mQhNHq
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— Brennan Center (@brennancenter.org) October 6, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Writing for Just Security, former US Navy Undersecretary Janine Davidson argued Monday that Trump's recent designation of left-wing protesters as "insurrectionists" had "crossed a clear red line in civil-military relations."
"It is the Insurrection Act he seems keen to invoke, which would give him dictatorial-like powers like we've never seen used before in this country—not even in the Civil War," Davidson said of Trump. "The Civil War was a war between states with militaries fighting on battlefields. A Trump-led deployment of federalized guard and active-duty troops to quell a fabricated insurrection inside American cities should only be understood as war on the American people."
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'Deeply Un-American': Trump Tells Generals to Use US Cities as Military 'Training Grounds'
"Wake up, people, the US is fast approaching a point of no return," warned one critic, who said the president's alarming rhetoric "comes right out of the fascism playbook."
Sep 30, 2025
President Donald Trump told hundreds of senior military commanders Tuesday that the country is "under invasion from within" and that they should use American cities as "training grounds" to target domestic "enemies"—remarks that drew warnings of encroaching fascism as the president expands his invasion and occupation of US communities.
Speaking to nearly 800 US generals and admirals stationed around the world who were summoned to Quantico, Virginia by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for a highly unusual assembly, Trump told military leaders they would be used against the American people.
"They're vicious people that we have to fight," the president said, referring in this case to critical journalists, whom he called "sleazebags."
(Trump begins speaking at the 1:09:45 mark in the following video)
"Just like you have to fight vicious people, mine are a different kind of vicious," he added.
Trump then said that cities "run by the radical left Democrats... San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles" are "very unsafe places, and we're gonna straighten them out one by one."
"And this is gonna be a major part for some of the people in this room," he continued. "This is a war too. It's a war from within."
Referring to Hegseth, Trump said, "and I told Pete, "we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military."
Responding to this, Naureen Shah, director of government affairs at the ACLU's Equality Division, told Common Dreams that when Trump said "the enemy within," he meant "those who disagree with him."
"We don't need to spell out how dangerous the president’s message is, but here goes: Military troops must not police us, let alone be used as a tool to suppress the president’s critics," Shah said. "In cities across the country, the president’s federal deployments are already creating conflict where there is none and instilling profound fear in people who are simply trying to live their lives and exercise their constitutional rights. Our country and democracy deserve far better than this."
Trump also said during his Tuesday speech that "only in recent decades did politicians somehow come to believe that our job is to police the far reaches of Kenya and Somalia while America is under invasion from within," a false assertion given centuries of US imperialism and colonization, first in the Americas and then around the globe.
"We’re under invasion from within, no different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways, because they don’t wear uniforms—at least when they're wearing a uniform you can take them out; these people don't have uniforms," Trump said. "But we are under invasion from within; we're stopping it very quickly."
He then turned his attention to "radical left lunatics, that are brilliant people but dumb as hell when it comes to common sense," falsely accusing the previous administration of opening US borders to Venezuelans after that country's government "emptied its prison population into our country."
In another lie, Trump said that "Washington, DC was the most unsafe, the most dangerous city in the United States of America, and to a large extent, beyond."
The president claimed that "we took out 1,700 career criminals" during his recently launched takeover of DC—almost certainly another false statement given that more than 80% of arrests made in the capital were for misdemeanor offenses, many of them immigration-related.
Trump said US troops are "following in a great and storied military tradition" of presidents who have deployed military forces against "domestic" enemies.
"Today, I want to thank every service member from general to private who's helped secure the nation's capital and make America safe for the American people," he said, adding in another blatant lie that "we haven't had a crime in Washington in so long."
"We're going into Chicago very soon," he said, although Operation Midway Blitz is already underway in the city.
"How about Portland?" he asked, adding in a comment utterly divorced from reality that the laconic Oregon city "looks like a war zone."
Trump ordered troops to invade Portland despite the city ranking 72nd in violent crime in the US, according to FBI data.
In an apparent moment of doubt, Trump asked during a Sunday NBC News interview, "Well wait a minute, am I watching things on television that are different from what’s happening?"
Recounting how Democratic Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek asked Trump to not deploy federal forces to Portland, Trump said during Tuesday's speech that "unless they're playing false tapes, this looked like World War II. Your place is burning down."
Amid small-scale protests in Portland over Trump's authoritarian Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) crackdown, Fox News aired a report conflating video footage from 2020 protests against the police murder of George Floyd with the recent images. Anti-ICE protesters have burned an American flag and set small street fires in Portland, but no structures have been burned down.
Trump also said that any anti-ICE protesters who throw objects at federal vehicles or agents can be met with unlimited force.
"You get out of that car, and you can do whatever the hell you want to do," the president said.
Critics swiftly pushed back on Trump's suggestion of using American cities as military "training grounds."
Congressman Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), a former Marine Corps combat veteran who served multiple tours during the US invasion and occupation of Iraq, said on the social media site X that "today’s speeches by Trump and Hegseth were weak portrayals of 'leadership' by two small, insecure men."
"US cities should never be 'training grounds' for the military," Moulton added. "There is no 'enemy from within.' The reputational and operational damage being done to our military will take years to undo."
The Democratic Association of Secretaries of State said on social media, "This is authoritarian, unconstitutional, and a direct threat to our democracy."
"Today’s speeches by Trump and Hegseth were weak portrayals of 'leadership' by two small, insecure men."
Chris Rilling, a former senior official at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said on X: "Trump should be impeached for this statement alone. Period."
Some legal experts noted that the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 prohibits use of the military for domestic law enforcement.
Leaders of the Not Above the Law Coalition—which includes progressive groups such as Public Citizen, MoveOn, and Stand Up America—called Trump's remarks "deeply un-American."
“This dangerous rhetoric delivered during an unprecedented gathering reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of our military's purpose and the people it serves," the coalition co-chairs said. "Make no mistake: This isn't about public safety—it's about turning our own military into a force to be used against Trump’s perceived political opponents or anyone who questions his administration."
“Americans cannot stay silent when our leaders express plans to use our military against us," they added. "We must reject any attempt to normalize this outrageous and unlawful directive.”
Observers abroad also expressed shock at Trump's remarks.
"In Trump’s speech today, Trump mentioned something very dangerous: using US cities (Democrat-run, I bet) as US troops training ground," said José Antonio Salcedo, a professor at University of Porto in Portugal. "This is definitely contrary to the US Constitution."
"It comes right out of the fascism playbook that Project 2025 and its fringe lunatic authors have been advocating and planning," he added. "Wake up, people, the US is fast approaching a point of no return."
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Oregon Medical Workers Launch Largest Healthcare Strike in State History
Over 5,000 frontline healthcare professionals walked off the job at Providence hospitals and clinics across the Beaver State.
Jan 10, 2025
Thousands of Oregon medical caregivers at Providence hospitals launched what organizers are calling the largest healthcare strike in state history Friday as they fight for improved patient care, fair wages, and better working conditions in their new contract.
Around 5,000 nurses, doctors, midwives, and other healthcare professionals began their indefinite strike at 6:00 am local time Friday, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported. Workers walked off the job at Providence hospitals including: St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Providence Portland, Providence Willamette Falls in Oregon City, Providence Milwaukie, Providence Hood River, Providence Seaside, Providence Newberg, and Providence Medford. Numerous clinics are also affected.
Striking nurses are seeking higher wages, better nurse-to-patient ratios, more paid time off, and lower out-of-pocket costs on their healthcare plans. Doctors want Providence to cap hospital admissions when patient numbers climb too high.
"We're asking for competitive compensation that reflects the reality of our work, the long hours, the emotional toll, and the ever-growing demands that are placed on us," Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) member Gina Ottinger, a registered nurse, told the Oregon Capital Chronicle on Friday. "We're asking for wages that keep pace with inflation."
Healthcare workers' unions are also asking for employment guarantees should Providence sell off their hospitals. The unions have also flagged contract alignment issues; Providence favors a three-year deal, while workers are seeking two-year agreements.
"This strike could have been avoided," ONA executive director Anne Tan Piazza
said at a Thursday press conference. "We need Providence to stop refusing to negotiate and come back to the table."
In a recent statement explaining the strike, ONA said: "Providence is a $30 billion corporation whose top executives make million-dollar salaries and are too focused on profits and not enough on high-quality patient care. Providence's outgoing CEO made more than $12 million in 2024."
"The corporatization of healthcare has left many Providence employees frustrated and burnt out as they are being told to spend less and less time with patients and more time trying to drive up profits," the union added. "Providence offers their employees healthcare plans that are far worse than other healthcare systems, with some Providence employees having to pay $5,000 out of pocket to receive services at the place they work."
“The corporatization of health care has left many Providence employees frustrated and burnt out as they are being told to spend less ..time with patients and more time trying to drive up profits."5,000 Oregon doctors, RNS & caregivers will be on strike starting Jan 10 www.wweek.com/news/2024/12...
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— Randi Weingarten (@rweingarten.bsky.social) January 5, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Providence officials say the company has made "competitive offers" to hospital bargaining units, "including double-digit pay increases for hospital nurses representing more than $12,000 a year for a typical nurse."
In a Friday statement referencing Oregon's mandatory 10-day strike notice period, Democratic Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said that "Providence wasted 10 days when they could have been at the table making progress towards a comprehensive resolution of their labor dispute."
"We must take care of the people who take care of Oregonians—all hospital staff deserve a fair contract," she added. "Oregonians are already experiencing disruptions to care. All parties must return to the table immediately to resolve their disagreements so normal operations and care can resume."
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