Good morning, it's Monday, Oct. 19. President Trump endorsed Israel's prime minister on Sunday, and one line in his post ties the future of the Iran war to an election overseas.

Also in today's issue: Trump turns on Zelenskyy, A reprieve for 100,000, A golf course in court, Early voting opens.

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If you've winced at a fuel bill this fall, President Trump posted something on Sunday that ties the war behind those prices to an election overseas.

Trump endorsed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of Israel's Oct. 27 vote, calling him "a Great Warrior Prime Minister." Then he added something close to a condition. If Israel picks "the wrong Leader," he wrote, America will have to finish the job against Iran itself, "and I am not inclined to do so." That last clause leaves a big question hanging: would the U.S. keep fighting at all?

Start with what's at stake at home. The global oil price neared $110 a barrel on Friday, its highest since May. It was still above $105 on Monday morning. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told ABC's "This Week" that gas and diesel prices peaked a few weeks ago and have pulled back "only slightly." How long this war lasts shows up every time you fill the tank.

Now the politics. American presidents used to avoid endorsing foreign leaders, because it can look like meddling in another country's choice. Trump has made it routine, backing leaders in Hungary, Japan and Poland. His support for Netanyahu was never a sure thing, though. The two launched the war on Iran together in February, but they've clashed since. Trump criticized Israel's strike on an Iranian gas field, called Netanyahu "crazy" in June, and watched him reject a U.S. plan to advance a stalled Gaza ceasefire in August. Asked this month about backing him, Trump told Time magazine, "I'm not involved in politics anymore," the Associated Press reported.

Supporters say the endorsement just recognizes a proven partner. Netanyahu has stood with Washington against Iran for years, and they argue that switching leaders mid-war carries real risk. Netanyahu thanked Trump and pledged that the two would finish the mission together.

Critics hear something else: American war decisions hinging on who wins someone else's election. And many Israelis are frustrated too, disappointed that the war has not delivered the results both countries promised.

Meanwhile, Iran says an exit still exists. Its foreign minister told the Tasnim news agency on Sunday that Tehran's offer stands. Under it, the U.S. would lift its naval blockade and ease sanctions. The Strait of Hormuz, the shipping lane for much of the world's oil, would reopen on day six, and talks would begin on day seven. Trump rejected that offer last month. Russia's foreign minister arrives in Tehran on Monday for talks of his own.

So what does "not inclined" mean? Read one way, a Netanyahu loss could speed an American exit, which might ease oil prices. Read another way, it's a nudge to Israeli voters. The post doesn't say which.

Israel votes on Oct. 27, exactly one week before Americans vote. If Netanyahu wins, watch whether Trump moves to "finish the job" he described. If he loses, the question becomes whether "not inclined" turns into a way out.

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Ukraine defied President Trump overnight Saturday, setting a St. Petersburg oil terminal on fire in one of its biggest drone attacks this year, despite his demand that it stop hitting Russian energy sites. Trump fired back Sunday, writing that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "doesn't want to end this war, and probably never did." He also said he's holding off on the new Russia sanctions Congress passed: "I can sign it later." Ukraine says the strikes cut off the fuel and cash Russia uses for its war; Trump blames them for high diesel prices. Some Republicans are pushing back. Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio and Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota called for a congressional investigation into last week's slowdown of Starlink, the satellite network Ukraine uses to fly drones. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it "sort of happened" (CBS News).

More than 100,000 Ukrainians and about 1,800 Sudanese can keep living and working in the U.S. for now. Their Temporary Protected Status was set to end Monday. Congress created the program in 1990 for people whose home countries are too dangerous to return to. The Department of Homeland Security told CBS News on Sunday that final decisions will come "at the appropriate time," and that until then, these immigrants "retain protection." That's an unusual pause. The administration has ended these protections for more than 1 million people from over a dozen countries, including Haiti, Venezuela and Afghanistan, and calls the program a back door to amnesty. With no new end date, families get a reprieve but not an answer, and so do the employers who rely on them.

President Trump said Sunday he will close East Potomac Golf Course, a 106-year-old public course near the White House, on Nov. 15 for 15 months to rebuild it for events like the U.S. Open. There's a catch. A federal judge has halted work there until at least Oct. 26, after crews cut down more than 400 trees over a holiday weekend with little notice to the court. Just two days earlier, government lawyers told that judge Trump had given the plan only "preliminary thought." Judge Ana Reyes ordered them to say by Sunday night whether that had changed. The administration wants her removed from the case, and a hearing is set for Monday. Trump calls the course dilapidated and unsafe. Opponents say an upscale makeover would price out the everyday golfers who use it now.

Early in-person voting opens Monday in Texas, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado and Connecticut. In Texas, it runs through Oct. 30, and mail-ballot applications must arrive by Oct. 23. State computer glitches delayed hundreds of thousands of registration records this fall. Texans who registered through the state's driver's license website by Oct. 5 but don't show up on the rolls can still cast a provisional ballot. The Senate race between Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton is essentially tied at 51% to 49%. Cost of living is voters' top issue, and Talarico leads among those hurt by higher prices. Paxton leads among voters who back the deportation program. Talarico also draws 9% of people who say they never vote for Democrats, according to a new CBS News/YouGov poll.

That's how many Texans are registered to vote, a state record, according to figures released Friday. It's up 553,518 from last November. In a Senate race this close, a few points of turnout in a pool this big means hundreds of thousands of votes.

P.S. Why do you think Trump endorsed Netanyahu now? Hit Reply — We Read Everyone.