President Donald Trump said Friday that first lady Melania Trump alerted him to the Swedish arrest of rapper A$AP Rocky when he was asked about reports that his administration is helping to resolve the matter and Kim Kardashian West’s involvement.
President Donald Trump said Friday that first lady Melania Trump alerted him to the Swedish arrest of rapper A$AP Rocky when he was asked about reports that his administration is helping to resolve the matter and Kim Kardashian West’s involvement.
“A$AP Rocky is a situation in Sweden. Sweden is a great country, and they’re friends of mine,” Trump said when asked about the situation, adding that his administration has “already started” talking with the country.
The 30-year-old rapper — whose real name isRakim Mayers — has been detained since July 3, following a confrontation in the Swedish capital where he faces accusations of serious assault, CNN Swedish affiliate Expressen reported.
The prosecution has until July 25 to “complete the investigation,” into a brawl that broke out on June 30, which A$AP Rocky is suspected of being involved in.
The President said he personally does not know A$AP Rocky but the rapper has “tremendous support” from African-Americans and “from everybody in this country, because we all are one.”
“I have been called by so many people,” he said of the case.
Melania Trump, invited to speak by the President, said: “We’ll be working with the State Department and we hope to get him home soon.”
On Thursday, Kim Kardashian West thanked the administration for its help in securing the rapper, who has been in Swedish jail. A State Department official told CNN’s Jenny Hansler that the State Department is closely following the case.
“Thank you @realDonaldTrump, @SecPompeo, Jared Kushner & everyone involved with the efforts to Free ASAP Rocky & his two friends,” the reality star tweeted. “Your commitment to justice reform is so appreciated.”
The move is not Kardashian West’s first foray into political advocacy. In June 2018, Trump commuted the sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, a first-time nonviolent drug offender, a week after Kardashian West pleaded her case during a meeting with the President on prison reform.
Related: Kim Kardashian West at White House on hiring ex-prisoners: ‘These people want to work’
Kardashian West is working to become a lawyer and helped free 17 inmates in 90 days this spring.
