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.

Federal HR office pulls back curtain on sweeping NDA plan aimed at curbing government leaks

US and Iran reach ceasefire extension deal pending Trump’s final approval

Breaking: US and Iran Reportedly Reach Peace Agreement Pending Trump’s Approval

Husband’s phone GPS data prompts feds to search 25-foot-deep Bahamian waters for Lynette Hooker: sources

Judge hands Trump mail-ballot win for now as Democrats’ next move looms

Another One: Male LGBT Activist Arrested After Admitting Abusive Plan for 13-Year-Old Boy

1994 NBA Finals Clip Resurfaces Showing Trump at Knicks Game After Hochul Questioned His Fandom

US Military Prepared to Strike Cuba at Moment’s Notice: ‘When POTUS Says Go, We’re Ready’

Clarence Thomas puts Dems on clock as Alabama GOP emergency map bid stalled

Anti-ICE agitators throw wooden pallets, mattresses at federal agents during chaotic NJ detention center clash

Federal government’s landlord joins Vance fraud crackdown as White House widens hunt: ‘Critical force’

Al Green was a fighter for the Democrats. He lost his Texas primary anyway

Pentagon slashes NATO combat commitments as Trump pushes Europe to defend itself

US denies reports of evacuating US Embassy in Kyiv amid threats of Russian airstrikes

Ukrainian veterans are returning injured, broken, and angry. How can the government help them survive?

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.