Former US president Donald Trump said Thursday that he counseled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when they met last month to swiftly “get your victory” because the “killing has to stop” in Gaza.

The Republican presidential nominee was asked at a New Jersey press conference whether he encouraged Netanyahu not to agree to a ceasefire deal with Hamas.

Trump denied doing that, asserting that Netanyahu “knows what he’s doing.”

“I did encourage him to get this over with. You want to get it over with fast. Have victory, get your victory, and get it over with. It has to stop, the killing has to stop,” Trump added.

The former president has long called for Israel to quickly secure a victory over Hamas, arguing that Israel has a public relations problem that gets worse the longer the war sparked by Hamas’s October 7 onslaught goes on. The assertion that the “killing has to stop” appeared to be the closest Trump has come to more directly criticizing Israel’s prosecution of the war in Gaza.

Trump was also asked when the last time he spoke to Netanyahu was, after report by the Axios news site claimed the pair spoke on Wednesday about the hostage deal currently being negotiated between Israel and Hamas.

Netanyahu’s office denied the report and Trump did likewise, saying he hasn’t spoken to Netanyahu since they met last month at his Florida golf resort.

“I expect I might be talking to him, but I haven’t since then,” Trump said, adding that they met for roughly two hours.

He reiterated his claim that Hamas’s shock October 7 attack would not have taken place if he were president.

Trump also maintained he has a very good relationship with Netanyahu. The two did appear to have a falling out, though, after the premier congratulated Joe Biden on defeating Trump in the 2020 election, leading the latter to curse Netanyahu out in a phone interview.

Last month, Trump called for a quick end to the war in Gaza and the return of the hostages during an interview with Fox. He echoed the call for the hostages to be released immediately during his Mar-a-Lago meeting with Netanyahu.