#Trump slams Portland’s ‘incompetent’ mayor, calls for National Guard

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Portland mayor Ted Wheeler (left) and President Donald Trump
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President Trump ripped Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler in a string of tweets early Sunday as “incompetent” and called on local officials to ask him for help to quell the violence that has been rocking the Oregon city for months.

“Wheeler is incompetent, much like Sleepy Joe Biden,” Trump posted about the Democratic mayor. “This is not what our great Country wants. They want Safety & Security, and do NOT want to Defund our Police!”

Trump began tweeting and retweeting about Portland shortly before 5 a.m.

They come after as a man wearing a far-right group Patriot Prayer hat was killed Saturday evening during clashes between Black Lives Matter protesters and pro-President Trump supporters.

“Our great National Guard could solve these problems in less than 1 hour. Local authorities must ask before it is too late. People of Portland, and other Democrat run cities, are disgusted with Schumer, Pelosi, and their [sic] local ‘leaders’. They want Law & Order!,” Trump tweeted, linking to a posting saying “this is Ted Wheeler’s Portland.”

He was referring to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

The president also retweeted his former acting director of national intelligence, Richard Grenell, who said after turning down Trump’s offer to send troops into Portland, “his city is in chaos.”

In an open letter sent Friday, Wheeler said “no thanks” to Trump’s offer to send troops.

“We don’t need your politics of division and demagoguery,” it said.

But Trump said if Oregon Gov. Kate Brown reaches out to him, he’d help.

“The National Guard is Ready, Willing and Able,” Trump said. “All the Governor has to do is call!”

Later Sunday, Trump tweeted: “Law & Order!!!”

Police offered few details and said it was too early in the investigation to determine what led up to the fatal shooting.

“I ask everyone to give the detectives time to do their important work before drawing conclusions about what took place,” Police Chief Chuck Lovell said in a statement.

The protests have been continuing in Portland and many cities across the country since May following the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis.