A wave of retribution is flowing toward Portland, Oregon, from the White House after the arrest of conservative journalist Nick Sortor there on Thursday night.
Sortor’s arrest on a misdemeanor charge inflamed an already tense situation, leading Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon to tell the Portland police that they are under investigation.
On Friday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt noted that the incident, coupled with antifa protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents that led President Donald Trump to authorize the use of troops to protect ICE, and Trump’s declaration of antifa as a domestic terrorist organization, was the last straw.
In a video posted to X, she noted that Sortor “was ambushed by antifa and was defending himself from these assaults.”
Antifa attacked Nick Sortor. Portland PD is responding by… arresting Nick Sortor.pic.twitter.com/APHjSaMm8S
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) October 3, 2025
“But instead of arresting these violent mob members, night after night after night, who are ravaging this community, police arrested a journalist who was there trying to document the chaos,” she said.
Leavitt said the arrest was “part of a troubling trend in Portland where left-wing mobs believe they get to decide who can visit and live in their city,” Leavitt said.
“It is not their city; it is the American people’s city, and President Trump is going to restore that.”
???? BREAKING: In response to my wrongful arrest in Portland, President Trump has ORDERED his staff to review federal aid to be CUT in the city, per Karoline Leavitt
“We will NOT fund states that allow anarchy!”
This arrest is going to cost Portland leftists DEARLY! pic.twitter.com/ESpB7BwfDV
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) October 3, 2025
“I just spoke with the president about this, and he has directed his team here at the White House to begin reviewing aid that can potentially be cut in Portland,” she said.
“We will not fund states that allow anarchy. There will also be an additional surge of federal resources to Portland immediately,” she said.
“Law and order will prevail and President Trump will make sure of it,” she said.
???? BREAKING: President Trump has ordered Pete Hegseth to deploy active duty troops to liberate “war ravaged Portland” following the city’s targeted, politically-motivated arrest of me
“President Trump will END the RADICAL LEFT’S REIGN OF TERROR in Portland once and for all!” ???????? pic.twitter.com/h9PRsFyDxC
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) October 3, 2025
In a separate video, Leavitt said, “President Trump “will end the radical left reign of terror in Portland once and for all.”
“The president has directed Secretary [Pete] Hegseth to provide all necessary troops to protect war-ravaged Portland and any ICE facilities under siege from attacks by antifa and other left-wing domestic terrorists,” she said.
People are furious because the latest arrest of @nicksortor is part of a long history of your leadership directing the arrests of low-hanging fruit, which usually means those on the right. It came two days after you let a violent assailant of @KatieDaviscourt simply walk away… https://t.co/4ePw3eQ8Mr
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) October 3, 2025
“This is not peaceful protesting, this is left-wing anarchy that has been destroying this great American city for years, leaving police officers battered, citizens terrorized, and business properties damaged,” Leavitt said.
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