WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign Friday rejected a new call from the Obama campaign to release five years of tax returns.

In a letter Friday to Romney campaign manager Matt Rhoades, Obama re-election campaign manager Jim Messina pledged that if Romney released five years of tax returns filed from 2007 to 2012, the Obama campaign in turn would stop criticizing the Republican candidate about them.

Rhoades promptly rejected the offer, saying if

Romney’s tax returns “are the core message of your campaign,” Obama will have ample time to discuss them between now and Election Day. The rival campaigns distributed the letter and Rhoades’ e-mail reply to reporters.

The letter followed Romney’s comment Thursday that he had paid at least 13 percent in each of the past 10 years. Washington Post