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.

As Trump Contemplates Invoking the Insurrection Act Against Minnesota, Washington’s Example as President Is Instructive

Women’s sports on the line as Supreme Court wrestles with defining ‘sex’

Irony Alert: Pro-Illegal Immigration Minneapolis Mayor Says City Has Been ‘Invaded’ by ICE Agents Who Don’t Share Local ‘Values’

EXCLUSIVE: HUD launches civil rights probe into Minneapolis over race-based housing priorities

17 College Basketball Players Charged with Fixing Games

ICE Deputy Director Leaves Agency to Run for Congress in Ohio

Trump rolls out ‘Great Healthcare Plan,’ urges Congress to slash costs for Americans

Trump’s Greenland takeover would likely entail enormous price tag: report

FBI arrests suspect after federal courthouse in Minneapolis windows smashed

Stunning Footage: Minneapolis Rioters Break Into Federal Agent’s Vehicle, Steal Weapon and Ammunition

Alleged Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson’s lover Lance Twiggs no longer under FBI protection, source says

Leavitt urges Democrats to grab a coffee with an ICE officer before blowing up at ‘left-wing hack’ reporter

DHS, Greg Abbott Call Out Dems After Illegal Sends ICE Agent to Texas Hospital While Trying to Run Him Over

Democrat-led states push anti-ICE bills that may violate supremacy clause

Federal appeals court sides with Trump admin in judge’s Mahmoud Khalil decision

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.