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.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and AG Keith Ellison Set to Testify Before Congress About Massive Fraud Allegations

Conservative group blasts LinkedIn for removing pro-ICE post, labeling it ‘hateful’

Famed filmmaker presses Democrats to put ‘citizen-led’ presidential primary first

He’s Not Joking: Jim Acosta Claims Don Lemon Was Arrested Because He’s Black

LAPD arrests violent agitators after protests erupt outside federal detention center in Los Angeles

Government shuts down again after Democrats revolt over DHS funding

Left-wing activists storming synagogue use knee pads, adult diaper to mock Dem congressman over ICE vote

ICE lodges detainer for illegal immigrant accused of sexually assaulting teen

US approves massive arms sales to Israel and Saudi Arabia for more than $15 billion amid Middle East tensions

Letitia James fires attorney consumer fraud over criticism of pediatric ‘gender care’

Saudis won’t let the US use its bases or airspace for an attack on Iran, senior Gulf official reveals

DOJ Releases Massive Trove of Epstein Files Documents, Statement on Trump Involvement

Rep Jeffries escalates rhetoric against Noem, says DHS leader should be ‘put on ice permanently’

Coast Guard searching for survivors after commercial fishing boat sinks off Massachusetts; 1 body recovered

‘Opening Pandora’s Box’: Mike Johnson backs Trump after warning White House about deal with Democrats

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.