Rapper A$AP Rocky performs onstage during Breakout Festival 2019 at PNE Amphitheatre on June 15, 2019 in Vancouver, Canada.
Andrew Chin | Getty Images
President Donald Trump says he spoke Saturday with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven about the detention of rapper A$AP Rocky, who is being held in jail on a preliminary assault charge in Stockholm.
Trump said he told the prime minister Rocky is not a flight risk and the two sides agreed to speak again in the 48 hours.
….Our teams will be talking further, and we agreed to speak again in the next 48 hours!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 20, 2019
The president also said he “offered to personally vouch” for Rocky’s bail. Sweden, however, does not have a bail system.
A$AP Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was ordered detained by a Swedish court on July 5 because he was considered a flight risk. He will remain in jail until at least July 25, the deadline for the prosecutor to bring charges.
On Friday, Trump said that had spoken with Kanye West and promised to call Sweden’s prime minister to “see what we can do about helping Rocky.”
According to The New York Times, West had asked his wife Kim Kardashian to call Jared Kushner to see if something could be done to help the rapper. Kushner raised the issue with President Trump, who told Secretary of State Pompeo to work with Swedish authorities to make sure Rocky was being treated fairly.
Rocky was on tour in Sweden when he and his entourage got into a fight with two men in Stockholm on June 30. A Swedish newspaper posted a video that appeared to show Rocky tossing a man. Rocky, however, posted two videos on his Instagram account in which his entourage becomes frustrated with two men who are following them. The rapper says he and his entourage acted in self defense
A Change.org petition calling for his release has received more than 600,000 signatures. The petition says the conditions in the jail are “inhumane” and his human rights are being violated. Sweden has denied those allegations.
