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.

As Feds Probe Her Foreign Ties, Omar Surfaces to Share Stage with ‘Dangerous’ Known Terror Supporter

Inside the Somali mall safe haven where Ilhan Omar reappeared after feds raided her DC home

Trump supporters confront Iran, affordability concerns with a message for critics: ‘Give him time’

Feds crack down on stolen car pipeline to Mexican cartels as 13 charged in border scheme

Florida mom arrested after Vegas trip left 4 kids without overnight supervision: deputies

Middle school teacher arrested in alleged prostitution scheme at casino hotel

Stranded hikers cling to steep California mountain ridge as helicopter crew swoops in

Longtime Serbian leader Vucic’s defeat at the hands of student movement leaves Washington in awkward position

Watch: El-Sayed Staffer Lets His True Feelings About Americans and the Muslim Brotherhood Slip in Devastating Undercover Video

DHS suspends visa-free travel program for Chinese nationals amid birth tourism, security concerns

Germans Furious After Audi CEO Teams with Trump to Announce New Georgia Plant

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to why removing Ilhan Omar from Congress could be harder than Trump expects

Billionaire with Epstein ties emerges as top Dem donor bankrolling ads weaponizing disgraced financier’s files

Utterly Incompetent WNBA Faces Potential Championship Game Disaster – Was it Because DEI Staff Failed to Book Stadium?

Powerful: Video Shows Grieving Mom Offer Illegal Alien Trucker Forgiveness Over Son’s Death: ‘I Pray for You’

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.