PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Considering the Twitter war of words between President Trump and Governor Kate Brown, it wasn’t likely they would have a chat about getting federal officers out of downtown Portland.
So, her chief of staff said, she enlisted a rather unusual partner to work out a deal: Vice President Mike Pence.
The president made it clear federal officers were not going to leave the federal courthouse unprotected after weeks of nightly skirmishes with protesters. So Oregon State Police Superintendent Travis Hampton came up with the plan to have state troopers step in and replace ICE and Border Patrol officers.
Brown reached out to Pence, who she had been talking with about the coronavirus. They reached a deal that the Oregon State Police would protect the courthouse and, if that worked, federal officers would be gone.
Former Oregon Governor Barbara Roberts talked about how this deal likely came together.
“Kate Brown, as a governor, knew this was critical to our state,” Roberts said. “I’d suspect Mike Pence as Vice President of the United States, he would be wise enough to see how it was harmful politically.”
The deal to remove the troops is tentative. Thursday morning Trump tweeted, “Governor Brown isn’t doing her job. We won’t be leaving until there is safety.”
When the deal was announced, OSP’s Hampton said they would enter into a 2-week rotation in Portland to assist both the remaining federal officers and Portland police.
“OSP hopes to develop an atmosphere that affords the removal of the protective fence and restore a semblance of normalcy, while meeting community expectations and our obligations to protect the federal property,” he said.