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.

Trump-Meloni spat grows over claim Italian PM ‘begged’ for photo: ‘astonished’

SEE IT: Dem senator downplays security threat of illegal immigration after White House terror plot

Gilgo Beach serial killer’s ex-wife says he ‘got what he deserved’ after he gets max sentence for 8 murders

Breaking: US Brokers Lebanon Ceasefire After Escalation Derails Peace Talks with Iran

UK’s Prime Minister Directed 13,000 Suspected Pedophiles Get Warning Letters Instead of Prosecution, According to Rape Gang Report

Republican congressman will end months-long absence from DC after missing 135 roll call votes

WATCH: Tom Hanks Painful Insult to MSNOW Interviewer Goes Viral During Obama Presidential Center Opening

Trump’s 80th Birthday Goes Off Without a Hitch, as UFC Bring Manliness, Spirit of Teddy Roosevelt Back to WH Lawn

Disgraced Murdaugh trial clerk who helped blow up murder conviction claims protection from payback lawsuit

Dem justices slap Soros-backed Philly DA with power strip in stunning decision: ‘Not reliable’

PHOTOS: Best moments from Obama’s presidential center opening

Will Dems’ targeting of California GOP-turned-Indie congressman ‘Pan’ out?

UN’s Albanese faces uphill battle with First Amendment case seeking to end sanctions against her

Interest rate cut not likely on the table, even after Iran deal and somewhat falling oil prices

US military kills three ‘narco-terrorists’ in latest lethal strike on vessel in the Eastern Pacific

See also Trump arrives for UFC fight

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.