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.

Socialist streamer Hasan Piker faces fury after pressuring Talarico to enact far-left policy if elected

Pope Leo XIV says Vatican is renewing alliance with ‘artists and cultural institutions’ against AI

Leftists Melt Down as Rapper Eminem Partners with Kid Rock on New Christian Album

Hochul says she’s ‘deeply disturbed’ by handling of Cornell rape case

Trump campaign insider reveals strategy behind midterm blitz that White House hopes pays off big

Cornell rape allegations prompt NY Attorney General Letitia James to open ‘active criminal investigation’

Final Jobs Report Before Midterms Comes In Way Below Expectations

Trump revives push to pass Sunshine Protection Act ending daylight saving time

Co-pilot stabbed during Flydubai flight describes lifesaving moment he opened cockpit door

California mayor accused of drunken behavior, racial slur, harassment in chief of staff’s claim

Rain or Shine: Trump Rushes to Oklahoma Rally by Highway After Severe Weather Grounds Him

Ms Rachel pours cash into progressive campaigns and more top headlines

‘DSA jihadi’: LA mayoral candidate torched after defending ‘genocide’ comment during Jewish forum

How Kansas became collateral damage in Trump’s Canadian trade war — and threw the local GOP for a loop

Inside the House GOP’s 4-week battle plan to save its majority

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.