The US Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers to prepare for a possible deployment to Minnesota, the Washington Post reported on Sunday, citing defence officials.

The army placed the units on prepare-to-deploy orders in case violence in the state escalates, the Washington Post report said.

The move comes after US President Donald Trump threatened to use the Insurrection Act if officials in the state don’t stop protesters from targeting immigration officials.

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Thursday.

The Pentagon and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.