"If the Mayor and Governor do not stop the crime and violence from the anarchists and agitators immediately, the federal government will go in and do the job that local law enforcement was supposed to do", Trump said via Twitter.
Earlier on Wednesday, Oregon Governor Kate Brown said the Trump administration had agreed to immediately begin a gradual withdrawal of federal law enforcement officers sent to Portland to prevent rioters from damaging federal properties. However, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said federal agents will remain in Portland until the attacks against federal properties stop.
Wolf said Brown had agreed to commit more state police personnel in downtown Portland to help local law enforcement secure properties and streets, including federal properties.
Brown and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler have said the federal police presence in the city has inflamed tensions amid nationwide protests following the May 25 death of African-American George Floyd while being restrained by police. Many of the protests have turned into riots complete with violence against police officers and civilians as well as acts of vandalism, arson and looting.