‘Bombed-out Cities’: Trump Orders Troops To Portland Based On Reality That Doesn’t Exist, And That’s Terrifying

President Donald Trump has ordered National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, saying the city is under attack. For several weeks, Trump has called Portland “war-ravaged,” “on fire,” and said it looks like a war zone. But these claims do not match what is really happening in the city.

As per MSNBC, Federal officers and police in Portland say protests around the city’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement building have been “low energy” and “uneventful.” Officials said this just before Trump sent troops to the city. While there have been some fights between protesters and counter protesters, most demonstrations have been peaceful and happen in just one city block.

Trump has talked many times about videos he says he has watched. He describes scenes that look like war movies. “Unless they’re playing false tapes, this looks like World War II,” he said on September 30. At a White House meeting on Wednesday, he said the videos showed “bombed-out cities and these bombed-out people.” But no one can find these videos. 

Where Is Trump Getting His Information?

Trump’s focus on Portland seems to have started after watching Fox News. On September 5, Trump said Portland “was not on my list” until “I watched television last night.” They showed a video on September 4 from a 2020 protest but said it happened this summer. Still, even Fox News is not showing the kind of damage Trump keeps talking about.

No one knows where Trump is seeing these videos of a destroyed city. This is worrying because fake AI videos have been spreading on social media lately. Just two weeks ago, Trump posted a fake AI video of himself talking about made-up medical technology. He later took the post down.

Not knowing where Trump is getting this information is a big problem. When a president decides to send federal troops somewhere, those choices should be based on real facts and reports from officials who are actually there. When decisions seem to be based on videos that no one else can find or check, it raises serious questions about what information the president is seeing and what could happen when actions are based on things that might not be real.