From 'The Conversation': Oregon AG to Trump: There’s no rebellion here | Dan Rayfield

The Playbook Podcast

POLITICO

News, Daily News, Government, Politics

3.9 • 699 Ratings

🗓️ 12 October 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Dan Rayfield is Oregon’s attorney general — and the latest state-level politician to be thrust into the national spotlight by a legal clash with the Trump administration. In this instance, it’s over the federal government ordering troops into Portland, where protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement have been deemed rebellion by the president. I would invite anybody to come to Oregon and I think it's pretty clear that there isn't an invasion going on in Oregon,” Rayfield says. “Sometimes I'll joke the only rebellion going on right now is when I tried to feed my son a vegetable.” The AG explained that his opposition to Trump’s proposed deployment is because, in his view, the president’s stated reasons for doing so aren’t based on the facts — or in the best interest of the people of Oregon.“If you want to deploy the military, if you want to federalize the National Guard, I'm okay with that if you have the right facts for it.,” Rayfield says. “We should give any president some deference, but when you have zero facts to base it on, that's when you've got to draw the line.” In this week’s episode of The Conversation, Rayfield talks with POLITICO’s Dasha Burns about how he’s trying to defend states rights by fending off the Trump administration’s attempted National Guard incursion in Portland, the reality of what’s happening in the city, freedom of speech and how progressive policies have drawn outside attention to the state in recent years. Plus, blogger and activist Vani Hari — better known as “The Food Babe” — joins the show to talk about her influence on HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and how she hopes to help the MAHA agenda become reality.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Today's episode is sponsored by pharma.
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0:26.0	programs. Learn more at Americasmedicons.com.
0:29.7	Is there a rebellion or a threat of a rebellion? There isn't a rebellion at all going on in Oregon,
0:36.1	and sometimes I'll joke, the only rebellion going on right now is when I tried to feed my son a vegetable.
0:45.2	Hello, hello, and welcome to the conversation.
0:48.0	I'm Dasha Burns, Politico's White House Bureau Chief.
0:51.2	And every week on this show, I invite some of the most compelling power
0:54.6	players in Washington and beyond in for a chat to find out how they are navigating and shaping
1:00.7	this incredible era of American politics.
1:07.0	And an incredible week, it has been, my friends, tensions between the White House and Congress
1:11.9	keep intensifying as there's no end in sight so far for this government shutdown. Plus,
1:17.5	the Justice Department's legal battle against President Trump's enemies. That was on full display
1:22.8	with those images of former FBI director James Comey getting arraigned this week and pleading not guilty in court.
1:29.6	Beyond Washington, the president is pressing forward with his crackdown on immigration and crime in
1:34.5	American cities. We've all been watching Chicago. We've also been watching Portland, where his
1:39.5	planned deployment of the National Guard has run into some legal challenges. That's all being dealt with
1:44.9	in the courts right now. And one of the major players here is Oregon's Attorney General Dan
1:49.6	Rayfield. Rayfield hasn't even been in office for a year. But he told me he's been preparing for a
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