PORTLAND, Ore.—For Fleet Week 2025, the U.S. Navy sailed some of its shiniest and most lethal warships up the Willamette River and docked them on Portland’s shores as part of the city’s annual Rose Festival.
Hundreds gathered down at the port on June 8—not to welcome the fleet but to call out the normalization of war, violence, and predatory military recruitment practices.
A rally was organized by Resist U.S.-Led War Portland, a coalition made up of numerous groups and organizations, including Half the Sky, International Women’s Alliance, Bayan, International Migrants Alliance, From the River, Gabriela, Mosquito Fleet, Communist Party USA, Clown Bloc PDX, Kalikasan Solidarity Organization, and many more.
As for the ships, they brought over 700 sailors with them to swarm the city and set up recruitment tents to talk up Rose Festival attendees. Recruiters offered free tours of the war machines and showed off what taxpayer dollars go toward instead of healthcare, housing, and good wages.
Families bringing their young children to the festival were inoculated into U.S. war culture, and some teenagers and young adults were even recruited right on the spot to join the Navy, enticed with stories about traveling the world, defending democracy, and serving their country.
Two of the main ships present during Fleet Week were the USS Mustin (DDG-89) and the USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125). The Mustin is a guided missile destroyer, part of the Navy’s 7th Fleet based in Japan and assigned to the Pacific Fleet. It conducts operations in the South China Sea, such as “freedom of navigation” operations in the Paracel Islands (South China Sea) and the contested Taiwan Strait.
The ship has been accused by China of engaging in “cognitive warfare” and has been participating in military exercises in the Philippines, Korea, Guam, Japan, and Latin America since 2004.
The Jack H. Lucas is a newly-commissioned guided missile destroyer, part of the Navy’s 3rd Fleet that operates in the Indo-Pacific “to advance freedom of navigation, the rule of law, and other principles that underpin security” for the region. Estimates put the total cost of the two ships in the billions.
Speakers at the rally worked to counter the stories being peddled by recruitrs. Speakers noted that the Navy often escalates violence against women and queer people—whether in the other countries the Navy is operating in or within its own ranks due to assault and harassment.
Such violence is also directed toward the people of Portland in preparation for, and during, Fleet Week. The homeless are violently swept away from the waterfront, often losing the few belongings they have, and women face higher risks of sexual assault and violence when the ships are docked here.
Another rally speaker commented on the use of the boats in war games near the Philippines as the United States continues its escalatory actions toward China in relation to the Taiwan issue. These are not cruise ships but weapons of warfare. Resist U.S.-Led War’s representative connected the actions of the Navy to capitalism and imperialism: the constant drive for more profits leads to the Navy—as part of the U.S. military’s vast war machine—occupying, displacing, and harming millions across the world.
The protest also featured a performance by ClownBloc PDX with a satirical depiction of a young man joining the Navy after being promised healthcare, school support, and travel opportunities. The young recruit ended up traumatized, injured, and fleeing the Navy before completing the required six years. Next comes college debt and housing struggles.
ClownBloc PDX’s performance depicted an experience lived by thousands, and recruiting only increases when economic conditions are worsening—as they are currently. Rising inflation and costs across the board without rising wages to match are making more people susceptible to the predatory recruiting tactics of all branches of the U.S. Military.
For example, the U.S. Army boasted recently that it has “successfully met its…2025 recruiting goals for active duty, signing contracts with more than 61,000 future soldiers—a full four months before the end of the fiscal year.”
Resist U.S.-Led War Portland has put forward four main demands to the City Council and mayor:
- Withdraw city sponsorship, endorsement, and logistical support for Fleet Week.
- Prohibit U.S. warships from docking on Portland’s public waterfront.
- Redirect any public resources currently used to support Fleet Week, including via the Rose Foundation, to programs that serve the needs of Portland’s most impacted residents.
- Publicly acknowledge the harm that Fleet Week and the broader militarization of public life cause to local and global communities.
These demands are echoed on a digital petition and in a physical letter-writing campaign to Portland officials.
A member of the Portland Communist Party Club said that they supported and attended the rally because they are “fighting for a world where tax dollars are not spent on endless destruction, war, and oppression but instead used to meet the needs of the people.”
Some reports have suggested that the Rose Festival will end after this year. In 2023, CEO Marilyn Clint said, “If I weren’t optimistic, I wouldn’t be sitting here. But if we’re still losing $700,000 a year, we’ll be out of business in three years.” The Rose Festival lost $1.1 million more in 2024 and expects a $300,000 loss this year.
While the Rose Festival itself is not a source of military recruitment, the end to the Rose Festival would likely also signal the end to Fleet Week, or at least a large amount of attendance to Fleet Week. Organizers hope that this is the final Fleet Week, but the struggle against U.S. militarism will continue.
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