“We have an insurrection law for a reason. If “If I had to enact it, I would,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. The statement came after Democratic-led states of Illinois and Oregon filed lawsuits to block the Republican’s deployment of the National Guard.

Regarding questions about under what conditions he would consider the 19th-century law, he insisted that “If I had to enact it, I would. If there were murders going on and the courts or the governors or the mayors were holding us back, of course I would. I want to make sure there are no murders. We’ve got to make sure our cities are safe.”

The Insurrection Act of 1807 allows the president to mobilize the U.S. military to carry out civilian law enforcement activities under certain circumstances. Its last application was during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

His stance comes after a federal judge in Oregon on Sunday blocked the Trump administration from deploying federalized National Guard members from California or other states to the streets of Portland.

U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, had also blocked the administration from deploying Oregon National Guard troops to Portland.

“Portland has been burning for years, and there’s no saving it,” Trump told reporters Monday. “We have to save something else, because I think all of that is insurrection. I truly believe it’s a truly criminal insurrection.”

Trump and his allies similarly referred to protesters opposing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in Los Angeles as “insurrectionists.”And Trump offered a similar response in June when asked about plans to invoke the Insurrection Act. "It depends on whether or not there's an insurrection," he said then, not ruling out the possibility of using it in the future.