Sweden's Justice Minister Morgan Johansson slams the 45th president of the United States for allegedly threatening to impose trade restrictions on the country if the rapper wasn't freed.
- Jul 2, 2022
AceShowbiz - Donald Trump may have gone to great lengths to fight for A$AP Rocky's freedom, though it was not in the best interest of the United States. The former POTUS allegedly threatened a trade war with Sweden in order to get the rapper released from jail in the country three years ago.
Sweden's Minister for Justice and Home Affairs Morgan Johansson revealed this during an interview with Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter. In the interview, the Justice Minister slammed Trump for his threat, calling it classic bullying.
"If you can try and do something like this against Sweden, what will you then try and do to slightly weaker countries that don't have the European Union behind them?" he told the newspaper, as quoted by TMZ and Daily Mail.
Back in 2019, Rocky was arrested in Stockholm after he got involved in an altercation with a fan. The "F**kin' Problems" spitter and his two bodyguards were accused of beating up the fan outside a fast-food restaurant. They were caught on camera hitting and kicking the guy, as well as hitting him with a broken bottle.
In their defense, Rocky and his camp claimed the guy had been harassing them and hurling racial slurs at them. Nevertheless, the hip-hop star was held behind bars for more than a month.
At the time, Kanye West spoke to Trump about Rocky's situation. The then-president later tweeted out his support for the New York City native. "Very disappointed in Prime Minister Stefan Lofven for being unable to act. Sweden has let our African American Community down in the United States," he wrote, "I watched the tapes of A$AP Rocky, and he was being followed and harassed by troublemakers. Treat Americans fairly. #FreeRocky."
Rocky, however, has played down Trump's role in his release. "In reality, I had no problem saying thank you to the man, especially if he helped me," Rocky said in 2021's documentary "Stockholm Syndrome". "That's the narrative they pushin': That he got me out. And he didn't free me. If anything, he made it a little worse."
