Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Trump’s trying to bring A$AP Rocky home
President says he is trying to help free rapper A$AP Rocky, who has been held in police custody in Sweden for weeks.
WASHINGTON >> Urged on by the first lady and celebrities including Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West, President Donald Trump said Friday he is trying to help free rapper A$AP Rocky, who has been held in police custody in Sweden for weeks.
“I will be calling the very talented Prime Minister of Sweden to see what we can do about helping A$AP Rocky,” Trump tweeted from aboard Air Force One, where he said he had just spoken with Kanye West about Rocky’s situation.
“So many people would like to see this quickly resolved!” Trump said.
Rocky, a platinum-selling, Grammynominated artist whose real name is Rakim Mayers, has been behind bars since early this month as Swedish police investigate a fight he was allegedly involved in in Stockholm before appearing at a music festival. It was not clear who else was involved, but videos published on social media appear to show a person being violently thrown onto the ground by Rocky. A defense lawyer has said it was self-defense.
The case has earned the attention of a slew of celebrities, including recording artist and producer Sean “Diddy” Combs; singer Justin Bieber; singer Shawn Mendes; actress Jada Pinkett Smith; Kardashian West’s mother, reality star Kris Jenner; singer Nicki Minaj; and rapper Post Malone, as well as Kardashian West, who has worked with the Trump administration on criminal justice reform issues.
Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., has also been pushing for the rapper’s release and has been in contact with the State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Sweden.
One senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity to outline private conversations, said Kardashian West had reached out to Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, whom she has worked with closely, to tell him about the situation on behalf of her husband, a supporter of the president’s.
Kushner then briefed Trump, according to the official, who said Trump felt the case was worth looking into, and directed his Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, to try to move Rocky to better holding conditions and see what else could be done.
The State Department said Friday that it was following the case but declined to provide details, citing privacy considerations. Providing assistance to U.S. citizens detained abroad is one of the department’s most important functions, it said.
Kardashian West thanked Trump, Pompeo and Kushner via Twitter, along with “everyone involved with the efforts to Free ASAP Rocky & his two friends.”
“Your commitment to justice reform is so appreciated,” she wrote Thursday.
Trump did not mention Kardashian West or Kushner to reporters in the Oval Office on Friday and said it was his wife who had originally brought the case to his attention.
“She was telling me about, ‘Can you help A$AP Rocky?’” said Trump, who said he’d also heard from others.
“Many, many members of the African American community have called me, friends of mine, and said, ‘Could you help?’ So I personally don’t know A$AP Rocky, but I can tell you that he has tremendous support from the African American community in this country,” he said.