Jul 18, 2019 - Politics & Policy

Trump made aware of A$AP Rocky's detention in Sweden by Kardashian call

Photos: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images; Andrew Chin/Getty Images

President Trump has directed his administration to work to have rapper A$AP Rocky freed from custody in Sweden after Kim Kardashian West contacted White House adviser Jared Kushner about the issue, as first reported by TMZ.

The state of play: A person familiar with the situation told me the TMZ story is accurate and that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has taken the lead to work on Rocky's detention.

  • Kardashian West did reach out to Kushner, who brought the issue to Trump's attention. The president told his team he wanted the issue resolved, the source added.
  • Rocky’s team has also been directly in touch with the White House, the source said.

The backdrop: Rocky turned himself into Swedish police last week after he was wanted for questioning about a street fight in Stockholm, which he and his entourage say was started by two harassers, but Swedish authorities did not properly reach out to the U.S. officials, per Politico.

  • Swedish authorities must decide by tomorrow whether to charge Rocky, who is currently being held in solitary confinement, with a crime or release him.
  • TMZ reports that there is "real fear prosecutors might delay their decision ... and keep [Rocky] in custody."

Go deeper: Kim Kardashian has helped free 17 inmates in the past 3 months

Go deeper