Gov. Tina Kotek and an assistant to President Donald Trump exchanged tense texts throughout the weekend as it became clear the president planned to deploy 200 members of the Oregon National Guard to protect federal buildings.

On Sunday at 8:16 a.m., Trump’s assistant, Natalie Harp, sent a text to Kotek’s phone, noting it was coming directly from the President: “Governor: The ICE Facility in Portland was attacked again last night. In fact, it, and other Federal Buildings, are being attacked on a nightly basis. We can’t have this. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

The text message was signed in all capital letters, “PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP.”

Kotek responded, “Received. I know he has a busy schedule today. Will try calling him later. Thanks.”

But the messages quickly escalated, as Oregon received notice that the president planned to mobilize the National Guard outside of the governor’s control.

“I believe this is unlawful and unwarranted. You broke your promise to speak with me before taking further action against Portland,” Kotek wrote. “I will be in touch later.”

To which, Trump responded, “I notified you to get things in order, and you didn’t. They attacked our ICE Patriots last night, and at other times. If you get your State in order, we don’t come in, but everyone knows that Portland has been an unmitigated disaster for years. I won’t let that happen in America! President DJT.”

The governor also asked her staff to get a report from the Portland Police Bureau about the protests and any arrests.

A member of the governor’s staff, Vince Porter, wrote on Sunday morning, “Speaking with Chief (Bob) Day. There was one misdemeanor arrest. Also a report of a laser pointer at a helicopter and that’s it.”

A Portland Police Bureau official told OPB there were no arrests prior to Sunday night.

On Monday, the governor told reporters she would do everything she could to “delay, pause, redirect,” to change the outcome.

“I am dissatisfied that there has been no real conversation with the Trump administration,” Kotek said. “Their desire to call up Oregon National Guard members based on faulty information is highly problematic.”

Over the weekend, Kotek told reporters she had also spoken briefly on the telephone with the president as she tried to convince him that Portland was not “War ravaged” nor was the city in need of any federal help.

She said she believed the president was being shown old footage of the city from 2020 when protests were in full swing.

“We cannot be looking at footage from 2020 and assume that that is the case today in Portland,” Kotek said in a call with reporters over the weekend.

“We are working very hard to get the message out. And when people come to Portland, they’re like, it’s great … What I said to the president is, I don’t understand what information you have when he says to me that the federal courthouse is under attack. That is absolutely not true.”

This is a breaking news story and may be updated.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/09/29/oregon-governor-tina-kotek-us-president-trump-text/