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.

Inside the dangerous US mission that cleared Iran’s mines from Hormuz shipping lanes

Abdul El-Sayed shares dozens of donors with ex-GOP candidate at center of antisemitism controversy

Marine Le Pen’s last stand: National Rally leader polling far ahead for 2027 presidential election after three previous defeats

Grand Canyon flash flood leaves 1 dead and several missing or unaccounted for, park service says

Duffy teases ‘unprecedented fraud crackdown’ announcement with DHS, DOJ

Accused NC killer mom plans insanity defense — as retired judge says more may follow Lindsay Clancy strategy

Beloved Texas chiropractor, hiking group among those unaccounted for after Grand Canyon flash flood

California mom has both legs amputated after suspected impaired driver plows into her restaurant lunch table

Airport chaos erupts after driver suddenly smashes through fence, hits plane and tractor: police

Breaking: US Forces Decimate Iranian Launchers, Stop IRGC’s Attempted Retaking of Hormuz

Urgent search underway for more than 20 people after Grand Canyon flash flood

DC public schools face special grand jury probe into attendance, truancy and graduation records

California bill recognizing 2 Islamic holidays nears Newsom’s desk

Tuskegee University president defends dress code amid criticism: ‘Raise the bar, students will reach it’

Trump indicates support for Christian-backed plan to help Canadian Jews escape antisemitism

See also Dolly Parton dies at age 80

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.