Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said that President Donald Trump’s move to designate Mexican drug cartels as a foreign terrorist organization gives the U.S. broader powers in combatting them, telling Newsmax on Monday it changes the “entire calculus.”

Paxton joined “Rob Schmitt Tonight” to react to new policy that Trump highlighted in his inauguration speech, during which he put cartels on notice. 

“Under the orders I signed today, we will also be designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. And by invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, I will direct our government to use the full and immense power of federal and state law enforcement to eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks bringing devastating crime to U.S. soil,” Trump said. 

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