Governor Gavin Newsom of California is once again making fun of President Donald Trump on social media. This time, for his decision to deploy 300 members of the California National Guard after the administration was prevented from sending its own National Guard personnel into Portland by a federal judge in Oregon.
On Friday, the official Gavin Newsom Press Office X account shared a video of someone in an inflatable frog costume cheering on federal investigators in Portland. “Donald Trump is illegally deploying California’s National Guard to Oregon — to ‘handle’ an inflatable frog. HE’S TESTING THE LIMITS OF THE LAW TO SEE HOW FAR HE CAN GO TO TAKE TOTAL CONTROL OF YOU,” the account wrote on X.
In an effort to put an end to protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducting aggressive immigration enforcement operations that have become more violent in recent weeks, Trump has deployed the National Guard. Newsom and other Democratic governors have pledged to challenge this decision in court.
About 300 previously federalized California Guard members could eventually be deployed, according to Newsom’s office. On the other hand, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek said approximately 100 National Guard troops had arrived on Saturday and another 100 were on their way on Sunday. Kotek said there had been no official communication with the federal government regarding the deployment.
Donald Trump is illegally deploying California’s National Guard to Oregon — to “handle” an inflatable frog.
HE’S TESTING THE LIMITS OF THE LAW TO SEE HOW FAR HE CAN GO TO TAKE TOTAL CONTROL OF YOU. https://t.co/qB47pCe0m1
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) October 5, 2025
The governor of Illinois made a similar declaration regarding the activation of troops in his state the day before the events in Oregon. Kotek claimed that the most recent action taken by federal authorities is an effort to get around the court decision that was issued on Saturday that prevented the deployment of Oregon’s guard troops.
A second temporary restraining order was issued late Sunday by the same federal judge in Oregon. The order prevented the Trump administration from deploying National Guard members to Oregon from any state or Washington, D.C.
During an emergency hearing Sunday night, Trump appointee U.S. District Court Judge Karin Immergut mirrored Kotek’s views. He claimed that the administration was “circumventing” her earlier decision by trying to deploy the National Guard from Texas and California to Oregon.
A memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was submitted to the court stating that up to 400 Texas National Guard personnel were being activated for deployment to Oregon, Illinois, and possibly other locations. The two states asked for the order to apply to all National Guard troops instead of the original, narrower order. This would have prohibited only California National Guard troops from being sent to Oregon.
About 200 California National Guard personnel who had been serving in the Los Angeles area were being transferred to Portland, according to a statement from a Pentagon spokesman. About 100 people arrived on Saturday, and another 100 were on their way on Sunday, according to Oregon Governor Tina Kotek.
After the president dispatched guard personnel from California to Oregon earlier in the day, California and Oregon requested the temporary restraining order.
