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Stephen Miller, one of the most influential White House advisers and the architect of Trump’s policies to stem immigration, was among the officials who voiced concerns during deliberations that preceded two high-level meetings resulting in recommendations to shelve the designation plan, according to two of the sources.

The White House and Miller declined to comment on the record. All of the sources who spoke to Reuters requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue publicly.

Reuters could not determine whether the president had been briefed on the recommendations before announcing, during a Nov. 26 interview with conservative commentator Bill O’Reilly, that he was going forward with the plan.

Less than two weeks a later, on Dec. 9, the president tweeted that he was temporarily delaying the plan at Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s request.

The senior administration official portrayed the president’s announcement not as a reversal but as a strategic move.

“Even the threat of designation was extremely useful leverage in terms of obtaining further cooperation” from Mexico, the official said.

The official said that reviving the plan remains “a live possibility” depending on Mexico’s cooperation on such issues as sealing the border to narcotics trafficking and controlling immigration.

The Mexican government has argued that equating drug cartels with Islamic State and al Qaeda could open the door to U.S. military intervention.