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.

Hasan Piker, cowboys, Charlie Kirk, and more: Top six takeaways from Republican midterm convention Night 2

Vance describes his hopes for baby son as he lays down a marker for 2028 with the speech of his life

Charlie Kirk supporters return to site of assassination 1 year later: ‘We are still standing’

Crowd erupts as Vance smacks down protester waving Mexican flag: ‘Get your a– over there’

Juror on Lindsay Clancy trial says ‘we let down Lindsay’ following mistrial

Top GOP senator reveals what Dem colleagues are fretting about behind closed doors

Several People Who Were Fired Over Charlie Kirk Comments Got Big Payouts or Were Given Their Jobs Back

Vance declares Democrats ‘party of hatred,’ says party has moved beyond big government, censorship

JD Vance to invoke Charlie Kirk, family ‘birthright’ in fiery midterm keynote speech thrashing Dems

FBI Busts Scheme to Use Skid-Row Homeless to Steal Voters’ Identities for Ballot Petitions

Conservatives Accuse Netflix of ‘Subtly Mocking Charlie Kirk’s Assassination,’ Call for Mass Cancellation

Patriots Announcers in Disbelief as QB Throws Away Season Opener on Final Play: ‘What Was He Thinking?’

Judge questions possible attorney conflict in DC pipe bomber case

Prosecutor Joseph diGenova resigns from DOJ role investigating Trump-Russia probes

Fatwas, holy wars and socialism: Inside the Islamic conference where El-Sayed drew a hero’s welcome

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.