Donald Trump returned to the US presidency on January 20 with a flurry of executive orders. This included the designation of criminal gangs and drug cartels operating south of the Mexico border as “foreign terrorist organisations” – a first for a US president. The state department will now decide which groups are added to the list.

The full implications of designating the cartels as terrorist organizations will depend, in large part, to how the administration follows through.

His administration would have more power to impose economic penalties and travel restrictions, and potentially even take military action inside foreign countries.

President Trump has signed an executive order saying the United States will designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, a move that could push a militarized agenda for the border and Latin America.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Friday said that U.S. President Donald Trump's decree earlier this week that drug cartels based in the country are terrorist groups "won't help,