Trump: Israelis Want Me in Netanyahu's Election Campaign

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that Israelis want him to play a part in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's reelection campaign, less than two weeks before the country votes on October 27. He did not commit to joining the campaign and did not endorse Netanyahu.

Trump made the remarks in a White House interview with Newsmax host Rob Finnerty, Ynet reported. Finnerty asked whether he planned to get involved in the Israeli race. Trump replied, "Well, they'd like me to be. Yeah, they'd like me to be. Look, I've had a very good relationship with him. We've had good success together."

Asked whether he trusts Netanyahu, the president gave a sweeping answer. "I don't trust anybody, honestly," Trump said. "I don't trust anybody. In the world of politics, I don't trust anybody." He gave no sign that the comment reflected a particular dispute with the prime minister. Instead, he went on to praise their cooperation during the war against Iran.

"We had a very successful partnership, you know, in terms of a military partnership," Trump said, according to Arutz Sheva, which also reported that he pointed to joint operations that weakened the Iranian regime's leadership and military capabilities.

Trump also claimed broad popularity among Israeli voters. "The people of Israel, they say if I ran for prime minister, I'd get 99% of them," he said.

US Ambassador Mike Huckabee (Photo: Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

The interview followed comments earlier this week in which Trump left the door open to an endorsement. "I haven't thought about it. Maybe I'll do something. We may endorse somebody in these elections," he said at the time. In an interview with Time magazine published October 1, he declined to endorse Netanyahu and said his main priority was helping defend Israel. Netanyahu has repeatedly emphasized his close ties with the president during the campaign.

A lot of the interview focused on Iran. CNN reported Thursday that the US military had drawn up new strike plans that could use the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, known as the "mother of all bombs," against Iranian energy infrastructure and nuclear facilities. Trump neither confirmed nor denied the report. "The mother of all bombs is not nuclear," he said. "No, I wouldn't use nuclear. We don't have to. We're the greatest nuclear power in the world."

Trump named a fortified Iranian nuclear site known as Pickaxe Mountain as a possible target. "We may have to go there," he said. "We'll take a shot at that one. We'll knock it out fast." He ruled out sending American ground troops into Iran and predicted that "the Iran war will be over very soon."

Last Thursday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the United States would carry out no further strikes on Iran until after November 3. On Monday, he told reporters that the election calendar would not dictate his Iran policy. At a rally in Alaska on Tuesday night, he told supporters, "Wait till you see what we do to Iran."

The question of Washington's role in the Israeli race was already in the headlines. Earlier on Thursday, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee rejected as "fake news" a report that the Trump administration was pushing Netanyahu to form a unity government with Gadi Eisenkot after the vote. "The American administration is not trying to interfere in Israel's elections or tell the Israeli prime minister what to do," Huckabee said.

Israelis will elect the 26th Knesset on October 27. As of Thursday, no bloc was polling at the 61 seats needed to form a government, and the race at the top remained close.