California National Guard members guard the entrance to the Edward Roybal Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles on June 15, 2025.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. military reassigned about 200 members of the California National Guard from Los Angeles to Portland, Oregon, on Oct. 5 in an effort to fulfill President Donald Trump's plan.

The announcement followed a federal judge's ruling that temporarily blocked Trump from deploying 200 Oregon National Guard troops to Portland on Oct. 4. The decision was made in response to a Sept. 28 lawsuit from Democratic Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield’s office.

"At the direction of the President, approximately 200 federalized members of the California National Guard are being reassigned from duty in the greater Los Angeles area to Portland, Oregon to support U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal personnel performing official duties, including the enforcement of federal law, and to protect federal property," Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement, Reuters reported.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said Trump was "using his lawful authority" in an email to USA TODAY.

“President Trump exercised his lawful authority to protect federal assets and personnel in Portland following violent riots and attacks on law enforcement," said Abigail.

Jackson added that Newsom "should stand on the side of law-abiding citizens instead of violent criminals destroying Portland and cities across the country."

Meanwhile, lawyers from the Oregon attorney general’s office told federal officials that the Portland protests were “small and sedate,” resulting in only 25 arrests in mid-June and no arrests in the three-and-a-half months since June 19.

Oregon’s lawsuit said that Trump announced the troop deployment after Fox News showed video clips from “substantially larger and more turbulent protests” in Portland in 2020.

Newsom: 'We are taking this fight back to court'

Earlier on Oct. 5, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he's suing Trump, claiming the commander-in-chief deployed 300 California National Guard troops to Oregon.

“After a federal court blocked his attempt to federalize the Oregon National Guard, Donald Trump is deploying 300 California National Guard personnel into Oregon. They are on their way there now,” Newsom said in a post on X on Oct. 5, adding: "We are taking this fight back to court."

Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut blocked the president from sending troops at least until Oct. 18, stating there was no evidence that recent protests had escalated to the level of a rebellion or seriously interfered with law enforcement.

One of the Democratic Party’s most forceful critics of Trump and a prospective candidate for the next White House race, Newsom has previously accused the Republican administration of going too far amid a nationwide immigration crackdown.

“His deployment of the California National Guard to Oregon isn’t about crime,” Newsom said in a separate post Oct. 5. “It’s about power. He is using our military as political pawns to build up his own ego. It’s appalling. It’s un-American. And it must stop.”

Trump had previously deployed National Guard members to Los Angeles to quell anti-immigration protests. The president's widespread immigration efforts were at the center of his 2024 reelection campaign.

Contributing: Joey Garrison and Sarah Wire, USA TODAY; Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pentagon reassigning 200 California National Guard members to Portland, Oregon

Reporting by Sudiksha Kochi and Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect