WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s campaign is offering Mitt Romney a deal: if he releases five years of tax returns, Obama’s team won’t criticize him for not releasing any more.

Obama campaign manager Jim Messina made the offer today to Romney campaign manager Matt Rhoades in a letter. Messina says he is taking the step because Romney “apparently fears the more he offers, the more our campaign will demand that he provide.”

Romney released his 2010 taxes and plans to release his 2011 returns. Messina says he wants Romney to provide three more years of returns.

Obama’s campaign has questioned whether there are years when Romney paid no taxes. Romney said Thursday he has paid at least 13 percent of his income in federal taxes every year for the past decade.