Portland tank clip unrelated to National Guard deployment

Published on October 2, 2025 at 22:59
3 min read
By Marisha GOLDHAMER, AFP USA

US President Donald Trump authorized the Oregon National Guard to deploy to the city of Portland, over the objections of state and local officials, but the forces are not driving a tank around the city, contrary to claims on social media. The clip of the armored vehicle rolling past a Burger King restaurant was filmed in August 2025 and features a World War II era combat vehicle owned by a local resident.

"US Military Tanks are seen driving through the streets in Portland Oregon," a September 29, 2025 post on Threads says. "Just think about this for a second, Democrats have allowed their cities to be so out of control with illegals and crime, we have to use our military to clean them up."

Screenshot of a Threads post taken October 1, 2025

Similar posts spread on X and Facebook after Trump authorized the deployment of troops to Portland on September 27.

The move follows similar actions by the Republican president to mobilize troops against the wishes of local Democratic leadership in Los Angeles and the District of Columbia (archived here).

Protesters in Portland have intermittently blocked entrances to Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities in recent weeks, prompting some clashes, and the city was the site of violent confrontations in the summer of 2020 amid racial justice protests following the police killing of unarmed Black man George Floyd.

But Portland's Mayor Kieth Wilson called the deployment "unwanted, unneeded and un-American." State and local authorities filed a lawsuit on September 28 accusing Trump of overreach.

The 60-day deployment of some 200 troops is expected in the coming days, but Leslie Reed, deputy director of public affairs for the Oregon Military Department, told AFP on October 1: "Our Oregon National Guard Soldiers are not driving tanks in the Portland area."

AFP also confirmed that the video of the tank predates Trump's order by more than a month.

In the clip, the handle "coastlandsmusic" is visible. A search of TikTok reveals the account uploaded the video on August 11, 2025 (archived here). It is captioned: "Perfectly normal #portlandoregon #tank."

Keyword searches for "Portland" and "tank" led AFP to local news articles that identified the owner of the vehicle as Steve Greenberg (archived here and here).

Contacted by phone on October 1, Greenberg said he regularly attends local events with his M3A1 Stuart from World War II in an effort to honor veterans (archived here).

He told AFP friends had sent him the video when it first popped up on social media, more than a month ago and that it simply shows him returning the tank to where he stores it at a location on 82nd Avenue.

He called the recent posts linking the clip to the National Guard deployment "unbelievable" and lamented that "people will do what they want to do."

Using Google Street View, AFP was able to geolocate the video to just outside the Burger King restaurant located at 3830 SE 82nd Ave in southeast Portland. None of the other locations of the fast-food chain around the city have the same blue awning over the drive thru exit. Additionally, a street sign with directions to Ross Island Bridge is visible at the start of the clip and the placement of the streetlight next to the restaurant sign matches.

Screenshot of Google Street View taken October 2, 2025 with highlights added by AFP

Screenshot of a TikTok post taken October 2, 2025 with highlights added by AFP

AFP previously reported on another video involving tanks shared out-of-context following Trump's deploying troops to Memphis, Tennessee.

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