President Donald Trump has generally had great success with federal judges that he had previously appointed, but the exception to that occurred last week after a judge he put on the bench put a hard stop to his plans.

According to Breitbart, U.S. District Judge Karin J. Immergut stunned the administration after she issued a ruling blocking Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland to help protect federal assets in the middle of ongoing protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. 

The ruling came in the wake of a preliminary injunction she issued last month blocking the president's deployment of National Guard troops to the Democrat-run city.

The president put Immergut on the federal bench during his first term in 2018.

What's going on?

The final ruling by the Trump-appointed judge came as a result of lawsuits brought against the Trump administration by the states of Oregon and California and the City of Portland.

Trump's lawyers argued that the troops were necessary to protect the ICE building in Portland as demonstrations rage on, often putting agents' lives and property in danger.

However, the federal judge clearly didn't buy that argument, making that clear in her lengthy final ruling.

The New York Times noted:

In her final 106-page ruling, Judge Immergut rejected arguments from government lawyers that protests at the ICE building made it impossible for federal officers to carry out immigration enforcement, represented a rebellion or raised the threat of rebellion.

Judge Immergut wrote, "The evidence demonstrates that these deployments, which were objected to by Oregon’s governor and not requested by the federal officials in charge of protection of the ICE building, exceeded the president’s authority."

Breitbart added:

The judge also disputed the president’s claim that Antifa, at least in Portland, is an organized group working against the U.S. government, also stating that testimony from ICE’s regional director about damage to the building and how disruptive the protests were was not believable.

Social media reaction

Users across social media had plenty to say about the ruling, and most were not happy about it.

🚨 JUST NOW: Judge Karin Immergut rules President Trump is hereby BLOCKED from commanding the National Guard to quell Antifa violent insurgency in Portland.

We have BIG problems. pic.twitter.com/JRe5kwdIGW

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 5, 2025

"She serves on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court as well. Scary," one X user pointed out.

Another X user wrote, "This KARIN previously signed off on all gun control laws and gutted 2A. Former FISA court judge. Unserious jurist but she can get away with it given she is in the Ninth Circuit."