Trump Denies Netanyahu Asked for Second Endorsement Ahead of Israeli Elections

US President Donald Trump appeared on Monday to reject suggestions that he had talked about issuing a further endorsement of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before Israel's elections.

Trump spoke to reporters as he boarded Air Force One for a campaign rally in Mississippi. Asked directly whether Netanyahu had requested a second endorsement, he answered: "I never spoke about it."

He went on to say, "I put out both endorsements. I put out both." Trump added that he believes Netanyahu has "done a very good job as prime minister under very trying conditions."

The comments run counter to accounts that US officials gave to The Jerusalem Post. Those officials said Netanyahu had been working intensively to convince the American president to make another public statement of support, because the first endorsement did not produce a significant shift in the polls.

Axios also reported that Netanyahu spoke with Trump twice within three days and asked him to strengthen his public backing. According to that report, the prime minister even proposed wording for additional endorsements and asked Trump to speak with Israeli journalists to stress his support. The Likud party denied that Netanyahu had asked for the endorsement.

In the same exchange, Trump was asked about Brazil's presidential election, in which incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated right-wing candidate Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Asked whether he planned to take any action over the result, Trump said: "I'm not running Brazil. I'm running the USA." He nonetheless criticized how the vote was run and counted.

"I like Lula. I get along with him very well," Trump said. "I just think it had a very bad look. The election, the way it was tabulated." He later added that "the extension given was very strange."

That remark referred to a decision by Brazil's Supreme Court to extend voting by two hours in the second round of the election. The ruling followed complaints about disruptions to public transportation, but it set off significant political controversy.