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.

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy Hospitalized After Suffering Stroke

Martha Stewart Makes Homeless Costume 10x Worse With One of the Most Disastrous Apologies We’ve Ever Heard

Haley Stevens’ endorsement stunt backfires with El-Sayed setting single-day fundraising record

Watch: Giant Man Picks Up Kicking, Screaming Woman and Simply Carries Her Away in Daylight Kidnapping Attempt

Steve Hilton rallies at ‘symbol of 16 years of Democrat failure’ in closing days of California race

Watch: El-Sayed’s Last Minute ’60 Minutes’ Mess – Just Can’t Say Israel Has Right to Exist Full Stop

Staff exodus ensues after Dem Haley Stevens flips on own party and endorses GOP rival and more top headlines

George Floyd-era police watchdog chair charged with selling name to inmate who vowed to ‘blow down’ witness

The GOP reveals a fresh $100B talking point as the battle for Congress looms

How to watch critical 2026 midterm election races in TX, OH, MI, WI, GA, IA, NV, ME and FL

Mamdani says Trump agrees to grant visa so mother can attend funeral of teen killed in Bronx shooting

Collins accuses Schumer of pushing attack ads filled with ‘outright lies’ in tight Maine race

Missing Utah teen Kylie Arellano found safe in Oregon after 500-day search

Michigan Democrats in disarray after Haley Stevens endorses Mike Rogers and gets kicked out of party

Chicago Assailants Picked the Victim, Quickly Discovered He Had a Concealed Carry Permit

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.