Trump team resurfaces plans to designate Mexican cartels as terror organizations

President-elect Donald Trump’s team is discussing plans to designate Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations, according to three sources familiar with the discussions, bringing back an idea that failed to come to fruition during his first term in office.

President-elect Donald Trump’s team is discussing plans to designate Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations, according to three sources familiar with the discussions, bringing back an idea that failed to come to fruition during his first term in office. In late 2019, Trump appeared close to designating Mexican cartels as terror organizations but held off at the request of then-Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. But inside Trump’s Justice Department, the idea of designating drug cartels as terrorist groups had also prompted broad pushback from career officials and from Trump political appointees. While the designation stalled, Republicans have continued to float it in the years since, including introducing legislation that would designate selected cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. Mexican cartels rake in billions of dollars and control much of the flow of illicit drugs into the United States and are also involved in human smuggling. As Trump prepares for his return to office, the designation is back on the table. Sources told CNN it’s unclear whether Trump would move to designate selected Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations on day one, but discussions are ongoing on who might be included and when action would be taken. CNN reached out to the Trump transition for comment. Speaking in Arizona last December, Trump reiterated plans to designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, a distinction that could preface the use of military force on Mexican soil.