U.S. President Donald Trump holds a joint news conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., January 10, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would be “a little bit flexible” on his threat to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement because Mexico is facing a presidential election later this year.

“I understand that a lot of things are hard to negotiate prior to an election,” Trump said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

Trump also said Mexico can pay for a border wall between the two countries “indirectly” through changes to the trade deal.