Donald Trump Backs Down on Plan to Designate Mexican Cartels Terrorists

President Donald Trump decided Friday not to officially designate Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, deferring instead to Mexico.

“We will temporarily hold off this designation and step up our joint efforts to deal decisively with these vicious and ever-growing organizations!” Trump wrote on Twitter.

The president said that although he was fully prepared to take the tough step against the cartels, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador asked him not to.

Trump said he liked and respected President Obrador, who has been working with him to help stop the flow of migrants crossing the Southern border of the United States.

San Jose girl, 8, dies after living in cockroach-infested home as mother, stepfather face charges

Former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt opens up about Trump, motherhood

Pentagon sends hundreds of Army troops to Latin America for training as drug-trafficking campaign expands

Trump announces advanced weapons testing ‘super range’ in Montana

MS NOW Falsely Reports Kash Patel Is in Russia – Gets Brutally Fact-Checked Directly by the FBI

Tension erupts during House midterm debate as Lawler fact-checks New York Democrat opponent on immigration

‘Serial Killer’ Concerns Grip Michigan’s Capital as Similarities Are Noted in 5 Recent Deaths

Copper theft suspect’s desperate escape caught on bodycam video before deputies discover what he left behind

Trump torches Democrats at Arizona rally, warns they will ‘destroy our country’ ahead of midterms

Will Trump’s contempt for Zelensky force Ukraine to choose between an election and survival?

FBI Says Saudi OpenAI Employee Bugged Company to Spy on Top Executives

Federal agents seize phone of Rep. Ilhan Omar in raid tied to immigration fraud probe

DOJ threatens emergency legal action against California over suspected noncitizen voters

High School Football Coach Fired, Allegedly for Running Up Score Against Lesser Opponent

House Democrat Reveals Plan to Knock Maxine Waters Off Her Leadership Pedestal, Sparking Internal Turmoil

President Trump was expected to meet with his advisers on Friday to discuss the designation, which he has been previewing for months.

“All necessary work has been completed to declare Mexican Cartels terrorist organizations,” he confirmed on Friday. “Statutorily we are ready to do so.”

The cartel slaughter of nine American citizens in Mexico last month — six children and three women — prompted Trump to speed up the process.

U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr met with Obrador on Thursday to discuss the president’s proposal, which the Mexican president criticized as “interventionism” and a “flagrant violation of our sovereignty.” Obrador also cited President Obama’s failed gunrunning operation “Fast and Furious” as an example of how the United States only made violence worse in Mexico.

In March, Trump told Breitbart News that he was thinking “very seriously” about the idea.

“It’s psychological, but it’s also economic,” Trump said about the cartels. “As terrorists — as terrorist organizations, the answer is yes. They are.

The designation would allow law enforcement to act swiftly against the cartels as well as target their weaponry and financial resources. The federal government would also be allowed to prosecute friends and family members of the cartels supporting them in the United States, as well as organized gangs such as MS-13.