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.

Experts scorch Mamdani’s grocery plan as an ‘illusion’ that will have taxpayers footing the bill

Iran has struck 14 Middle Eastern nations. Here’s what they have at stake in the war

Leading economist warns of rise of ‘Gen Z affordability socialism’

Pentagon to Honor Lindsey Graham by Renaming Military Base

Nolan Wells mystery deepens as email indicates teen drank heavily before vanishing

Cracker Barrel CEO Out After Alienating Loyal Customers with Controversial Changes

Trump to award top civilian honor to teenage lifeguard who saved child

Haley Stevens shreds Abdul El-Sayed: ‘We don’t need a celebrity candidate’

Supreme Court denies stays for two Florida death row inmates, clearing path for rare double execution

Watch: Trump Unhappy with Netanyahu’s Strategy Ahead of White House Meeting

Trump’s war on fraud expands as Treasury launches new site with whistleblower incentives

Federal Judge Rules Against New York Times, Gives Trump a Second Chance at $15 Billion Lawsuit

Public approval of Supreme Court drops to lowest level on record: Poll

Trump DOJ settles with anti-abortion father Paul Vaughn over FBI raid

Flock surveillance spreads across the South as red-state lawmakers seek to axe ‘1984’-style tracking tools

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.