In June 2020, President Donald Trump instructed governors to call in the National Guard to suppress Black Lives Matter protests, claiming protesters would overwhelm them if not dominated. He threatened to intervene directly if necessary. After the protests escalated, he deployed federal agents in Portland without consulting local authorities, enforce measures against the protesters. Trump's approach emphasized a confrontational strategy against civil unrest, reflecting a broader stance against perceived challenges to his authority during significant social upheaval events, such as the murder of George Floyd.
"You have to dominate," he told them, while labeling the protesters "terrorists." Otherwise, he claimed, "they are going to run over you."
Several weeks later, protests in Portland, Oregon, tested the president's resolve to send in an "occupying force." Although he didn't then go as far as to send in the National Guard, as he had threatened in that phone meeting, he did deploy federal agents to counter the protesters without consulting the governor of that state.
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