COURT: TRUMP ‘LIKELY LAWFULLY EXERCISED HIS STATUTORY AUTHORITY’: A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, in a 2-1 preliminary decision, ruled that the threat to federal property is sufficient grounds for President Donald Trump to federalize state National Guard troops and deploy them to Portland, Oregon.
“After considering the record at this preliminary stage, we conclude that it is likely that the President lawfully exercised his statutory authority under 10 U.S.C. § 12406(3), which authorizes the federalization of the National Guard when ‘the President is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States,'” two judges appointed by President Trump wrote, saying the Trump relied on an “assessment of the facts and law within a ‘range of honest judgment.’”
But the effect of the ruling is delayed while the case is considered by nine judges of the court. “We thus conclude that Defendants [Trump, Hegseth, Noem] are likely to succeed on the merits of their appeal, and that the other stay factors weigh in their favor,” wrote 9th Circuit Judges Ryan Nelson and Bridget Bade.
In dissent, Clinton appointee Susan Graber wrote, “Considering the dwindling size of the largely peaceful protests outside the Lindquist Building, where ICE is headquarters, the facts of this case come nowhere near justifying the conclusion that the President was unable on September 27 to execute the laws” and that the government’s case rested on a set of circumstances that no longer exists.
“It is illogical to assert that, because an emergency existed three months ago, the same emergency exists today,” Graber wrote. “A pot of tepid water is not a pot of boiling water, and it cannot hurt you, even if it was boiling three hours earlier.”
APPEALS COURT ALLOWS TRUMP TO DEPLOY NATIONAL GUARD TO PORTLAND
OREGON: ‘THE FIGHT IS NOT OVER’: In a joint statement from Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D), Attorney General Dan Rayfield, and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson (D), the state officials vowed to continue the legal battle, which, no matter which way the full appeals court rules, is likely to end up in the Supreme Court.
“Oregon remains united in the fight against this unwanted, unneeded military intervention in Oregon,” Kotek said. “Over the weekend, people across Oregon gathered peacefully to send a message that the Trump administration is being dishonest, and these actions to deploy troops are a gross, un-American abuse of power.”
“I support Attorney General Dan Rayfield’s efforts to continue fighting this in court and will continue to do everything in my power to defend the health, safety, and prosperity of every Oregonian,” Kotek said. “The fight is not over.”
The problem for Oregon authorities is that the Title 10 provision cited by the court is not tightly drawn, and thus gives the president broad latitude in its application, retired Lt. Col. Rachel Vanlandingham, a former Judge Advocate General, said on CNN. It vests pretty wide authority within the president,” she said. “The court really focused on the facts at hand that the government put forward, that the administration had to deploy 25% federal protective services to the city of Portland in order to ensure that the ICE agents and federal property were being protected.”
“It doesn’t take very much to defer to the President,” Vanlandingham added. “The problem is this particular statute — and the Insurrection Act is far worse — is rather ambiguous. And it does vest, not complete authority like the President said, but it vests a great deal of discretion within the president to decide when to send military troops to our city streets.”
‘THE STRONGEST POWER A PRESIDENT HAS’: Trump continues to threaten to use his ultimate “trump” card, the Insurrection Act of 1807, a law that grants the president broad discretion in determining when military forces are needed to suppress rebellion, quell domestic violence, or enforce federal laws.
“As President, like 50% of the presidents have used the Insurrection Act. They can use that, and everybody agrees you’re allowed to use that,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One Sunday. “And there’s no more court cases. There’s no more anything. You have the absolute right. It’s the strongest power a President has, and you have the absolute right to do it.”
“All I want is crime-free cities. We want to have great crime-free cities. So, I’d be allowed to use it if I wanted, the Insurrection Act, and then all of this nonsense would go away,” he said. “We’re trying to do it in a nicer manner, but we can always use the Insurrection Act if we want.”
TRUMP’S EXPANSIVE USE OF THE NATIONAL GUARD SHATTERS LONGSTANDING NORMS, BUT MAY NOT BREAK THE LAW
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TRUMP: UKRAINE ‘COULD STILL WIN IT’: President Trump insisted that in his Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week, he never asked him to give up more territory to Russia to get a ceasefire.
“No, we never discussed it. We think that what they should do is just stop at the lines where they are, the battle lines,” Trump told reporters Sunday on Air Force One. “You have a battle line right now. The rest is very tough to negotiate. If you’re going to say, you take this, we take that, you know, there’s so many different permutations. So what I say is they should stop right now at the battle lines, go home, stop killing people, and be done.”
Trump seemed to be backtracking from his view a few weeks ago that Russia was a “paper tiger” and that Ukraine, with enough support from Europe and U.S. weaponry, could retake most, if not all, of the territory now occupied by Russia. Yesterday, during his meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Trump said there was only a small chance that it could happen.
“They could still win it. I don’t think they will, but they could still win it,” Trump said. “I never said they would win it; I said could win. Anything can happen. You know, war is a very strange thing. A lot of bad things happen, a lot of good things happen.”
When a reporter suggested Trump was “the most powerful man on Earth,” and could “just enable Ukraine to finish this war tomorrow,” Trump snapped back that she didn’t know what she was talking about.
“I don’t think you do because it’s a little more complicated than that, but it sounds easy,” Trump said. “We’re in the process of trying to make a deal. If we make a deal, that’s great. If we don’t make a deal, a lot of people are going to be paying a big price.”
“Let it be cut the way it is. It’s cut up right now. I think 78% of the land is already taken by Russia,” Trump said Sunday. “You leave it the way it is right now. They can negotiate something later on down the line. But I said cut and stop at the battle line, go home, stop fighting, stop killing people.”
‘HE HAS A LOT OF CARDS TO PLAY’: While Trump’s refusal to provide Ukraine with Tomahawk cruise missiles and insistence that battlelines be frozen at their current position would seem to be a major concession to Vladimir Putin, Trump still has options to force Russia to negotiate a deal, says a former supreme NATO commander.
“He has a lot of cards to play. And frankly, at this stage, let’s just freeze the battle lines where they are and get Putin to the negotiating table. I would call that a win,” retired Adm. James Stavridis said on CNN. “He could give Ukraine those Tomahawks … He could put more economic pressure on by pushing the sanctions bill through the Senate. He could encourage the Europeans to confiscate Russian assets that are held in European banks.”
“What would make it different would be if President Trump played the cards,” Stavridis said. “We want to get both Zelensky and Putin to the table. I think if we can accomplish that by putting pressure on Putin, notably using Tomahawks and economic means, then I think at that stage, the president’s right, anything could happen.”
He added that if the battle lines remain frozen and the rest of Ukraine “sails on, democratic, free in a path to the European Union,” it would not be the worst outcome.
OPINION: TRUMP MUST APPLY THE LESSONS OF GAZA TO UKRAINE AND VENEZUELA
TRUMP: INVADE TAIWAN? “CHINA DOESN’T WANT TO DO THAT’: For years now, the U.S. military has identified China as its biggest, long-term threat, especially because Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed to make the self-governing island of Taiwan part of mainland China, by military force if necessary.
But yesterday President Trump downplayed the threat, insisting the counter-threat of punishing tariffs would keep China at bay. “I don’t see anything happening, and we have a very good trade relationship,” Trump said. “Now, that doesn’t mean it’s not the apple of his eye, because probably it is.”
Trump asked about it in the context of a deal the U.S. has with Australia to provide nuclear-powered submarines as part of an alliance with the U.K. to increase deterrence in the Indo-Pacific. “I don’t think we’re going to need it. I think we’ll be just fine with China. China doesn’t want to do that,” he said, referring to the prospect of an invasion.
“First of all, the United States is the strongest military power in the world by far. It’s not even close, not even close. We have the best equipment, we have the best of everything, and nobody’s going to mess with that,” Trump said. “And I don’t see that at all with President Xi. I think we’re going to get along very well as it pertains to Taiwan and others.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
THE RUNDOWN:
Washington Examiner: Appeals court allows Trump to deploy National Guard to Portland
Washington Examiner: European leaders back to drawing board after Trump-Putin call undermines Zelensky’s progress
Washington Examiner: Trump’s expansive use of the National Guard shatters longstanding norms, but may not break the law
Washington Examiner: No Kings’ protester calls for ICE officers to ‘get shot and wiped out’
Washington Examiner: Trump to set conditions on Venezuela’s Maduro to ‘take him down,’ Graham says
Washington Examiner: Colombia recalls US ambassador after Trump threatens tariffs and strikes over drug trafficking
Washington Examiner: Appeals court allows Trump to deploy National Guard to Portland
Washington Examiner: Trump and Australian prime minister put on united front before president’s meeting with Xi
Washington Examiner: Senate staffers to miss first paycheck as hundreds seek shutdown relief loans
Washington Examiner: Chip Roy latest Republican to defy leadership on ‘nuclear option’ to end shutdown
Washington Examiner: Opinion: Trump must apply the lessons of Gaza to Ukraine and Venezuela
CNN: Trump’s hope for quick second summit with Putin may be stalled as pre-meeting tabled for now
AP: Senate Republicans head to White House amid stalemate on shutdown
Politico: Ecuador says it has no evidence that survivor of US strike in Caribbean committed any crime
New York Times: Trying to Loosen China’s Grip on Critical Minerals, Trump Turns to Australia
Defense One: China: NSA Has Been Hacking Our National Time Systems for Years
Politico: Trump affirms support for nuclear sub deal
Air & Space Forces Magazine: B-52s Flew with F-35s in ‘Bomber Attack Demo’ near Venezuela
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Northrop Grumman Clears Design Review for Sentinel’s Launch Support System
ABC: Chinese Fighter Jet Released Flares ‘Very Close’ to Australian Aircraft
THE CALENDAR:
TUESDAY | OCTOBER 21
8 a.m. 1400 L St. NW — Atlantic Council ROK-U.S. Alliance Trans-Atlantic-Pacific Security Forum, with former U.S. Ambassador South Korea Mark Lipper https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/rok-us-alliance
10 a.m. 37th and O Sts. NW — Georgetown University Center for Security Studies discussion: “NATO Ongoing Transformation,” with Deputy Assistant NATO Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy Javier Colomina https://events.georgetown.edu/sfs/event/
11 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: “Upcoming U.S.-ROK Summit and the Future of Inter-Korean Engagement,” with Andrew Yeo, Brookings Institution chair in Korea studies; Sydney Seiler, CSIS nonresident senior adviser; and Victor https://www.csis.org/events/impossible-state-live-podcast-upcoming-us-rok-summit
12 p.m. — Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft virtual discussion: “Preventing Taiwan War: Is Strategic Ambiguity Still Working?” with Eric Heginbotham, principal research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Security Studies Program; Michael Swaine, senior reach fellow in the Quincy Institute East Asia Program; Bonnie Glaser, managing director, German Marshall Fund Indo-Pacific Program; and Jake Werner, director, Quincy Institute East Asia Program https://quincyinst.org/events/preventing-taiwan-war-is-strategic-ambiguity-still-working/
2 p.m. — Defense One virtual discussion: “Genius Machines: The Next AI Breakthrough; What U.S. Military Research Reveals About the Next State of AI Development,” with Dan Tadross, head of public sector at Scale AI https://events.defenseone.com/genius-machines-the-next-ai-breakthrough
2 p.m. 779 Massachusetts Ave. NW — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace discussion: “The Gaza Peace Plan: What Will It Take to Bring Peace after Two Years of War?” with Zaha Hassan, CEIP senior fellow; Amr Hamzawy, director, CEIP Middle East Program; Frederic Wehrey, senior fellow at the CEIP Middle East Program; and Marwan Muasher, CEIP vice president for studies https://carnegieendowment.org/events/2025/10/the-gaza-peace-plan
WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 22
11:30 a.m. — Washington Space Business Roundtable virtual discussion: “China, Space, and Geopolitics,” with Dean Cheng, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies senior fellow; Chris Williams, chair, National Security Space Association Center for Space Studies; and Christian Davenport, Washington Post reporter and author of Rocket Dreams: Musk, Bezos, and the Inside Story of the New, Trillion-Dollar Space Race https://wsbr.org/event/china-space-and-geopolitics
1:30 p.m. — National Defense Industrial Association and MITRE virtual discussion: “AI for Requirements: Modernizing DOD Requirements Process,” with Arun Seraphin, executive director, Emerging Technologies Institute https://www.ndia.org/events/2025/10/22/ai-for-requirements
2 p.m. — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace virtual discussion: “Rethinking America North Korea Strategy,” with Joel Wit, Stimson Center fellow; Jean Lee, presidential chair at the East-West Center; and Aaron David Miller, CEIP senior fellow https://carnegieendowment.org/events/
2:30 p.m. 1333 H St. NW — Center for American Progress discussion: “A New Vision for American Foreign Policy ,” with Rep. Jason Crow (D-Co) https://www.americanprogress.org/events/a-new-vision-for-american-foreign-policy
3 p.m. 1400 L St. NW — Atlantic Council discussion: “Transatlantic Security and NATO’s Northeastern Flank,” with Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/denmarks-defense-minister
3 p.m. — Axios Future of Defense Summit. https://axiosthefutureofdefensesummit2025interest.splashthat.com/
5 p.m. 1521 16th St. NW — Institute of World Politics discussion: “The War in Ukraine — An Update from the Front,” with Glenn Corn, IWP faculty member and former CIA senior executive https://www.iwp.edu/the-war-in-ukraine-an-update-from-the-front/
THURSDAY | OCTOBER 23
8 a.m. — Atlantic Council virtual seminar: “Countering the PRC Gray-Zone Strategies,” with Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson; Ta-Chen Chen, Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology non-resident fellow; and Arielle Ann Nicole Lopez of the National Defense College of the Philippines Senior Defense Research Office https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/countering-the-prcs-gray-zone-strategies
11 a.m. — Center for a New American Security virtual discussion on a new report: “Stuck in the Cul-de-Sac: How U.S. Defense Spending Prioritizes Innovation Over Deterrence,” with co-author Carlton Haelig, CNAS fellow; co-author Philip Sheers, CNAS research associate; Todd Harrison, American Enterprise Institute senior fellow; and Susanna Blume, CNAS senior fellow https://www.cnas.org/events/virtual-event-stuck-in-the-cul-de-sac
12 p.m. 37th and O Sts. NW — Georgetown University Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and Center for Contemporary Arab Studies discussion: “The Trump-Netanyahu Peace Plan for Gaza: A Critical Appraisal ,” with Diana Buttu, professor at Georgetown University Qatar https://events.georgetown.edu/sfs/event/33345-the-trump-netanyahu-peace-plan
2 p.m. — Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies virtual discussion: “Air Mobility ,” with Air Force Gen. John Lamontagne, commander, Air Mobility Command; and retired Lt. Gen. David Deptula, dean, Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies https://www.mitchellaerospacepower.org/events/gen-john-lamontagne/
FRIDAY | OCTOBER 24
10 a.m. — National Institute for Deterrence Studies virtual seminar: “Russia’s Evolving Tactical and Theater Nuclear Posture ,” with Phillip Karber, professor of strategy and praxis at the National Defense University https://thinkdeterrence.com/events/russias-evolving-tactical-theater-nuclear-posture
