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.

Harvard astronomer tapped to lead White House UFO council says US government ‘baffled by what they are seeing’

House Democrat Ro Khanna says he was detained by armed Israeli settlers in West Bank

Church in China Announces Massive Government Raid, Almost Three Dozen Christians Detained

Brazilian Couple Sentenced to Prison for Homeschooling Their Own Children

Europe’s demographic time bomb is killing its leaders’ popularity

WATCH: GOP senator warns ‘hammer-and-sickle’ politics will define Democrats’ 2028 primary

Appeals Court Blocks Part of ‘Stop WOKE Act’ in Florida, Allows Professors to Openly Teach Racism Against Whites

DNA technology leads to arrest in 1988 killing of Orlando woman after nearly four decades

Trump’s EPA chief pushes back on climate skeptics being labeled ‘science deniers’

Graham Platner Officially Goes Out How You’d Expect: ‘Free Palestine,’ Vulgar Message for ICE, No Accountability or Seriousness

Nicole Brown Simpson told former lover she’d ‘rather die’ than return to O.J. Simpson before her murder

The new ‘Supergirl’ is a cheerless comic book movie

The World Cup comes to America: Passion, resilience, and the politics of hosting

Former top cop warns of loophole exploited by illicit Chinese vape companies ‘targeting our youth’

America’s cheapest city to grab a cheeseburger, fries and soda isn’t where you’d expect

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.