President Donald Trump put forward a plan to help release hip-hop star A$AP Rocky from a Swedish jail after his arrest for a June 30 street fight in Stockholm. The U.S. Department of State previously stated they were in the process of getting A$AP, whose given name is Rakim Mayers, back to the States.

"We are following this case closely," a State Department official told ABC News on Wednesday when asked if the department has had any contact with the rapper or his representatives. "One of the most important tasks of the Department of State and U.S. embassies and consulates abroad is to provide assistance to U.S. citizens who are detained abroad."

President Trump even reached out to Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, according to a tweet Saturday, to “personally vouch” for A$AP's bail if he were released. Trump went on to say that Prime Minister Löfven told him A$AP would be “treated fairly.”


Despite the announcement, Prime Minister Löfven's press secretary Toni Eriksson said in a statement later that day that the phone call was friendly, but the prime minister "underlined that, in Sweden, everyone is equal before the law and that the government cannot and will not attempt to influence the legal proceedings."

According to the New York Times, a court in Stockholm approved a request from prosecutors to hold Rocky in detention for at least six more days until his next hearing July 25 on the grounds that the rapper is a flight risk. Linnea Wegerstad, a lecturer in criminal law at Lund University in Sweden told the paper that the case is exposing a flaw in the Swedish justice system.

“You could say it’s a problem that Swedish citizens are treated very differently from how foreigners are treated,” she said. “I guess the reason why it has involved so many feelings is because this is a very famous person.”

Charges against the man that Rocky claims harassed him for four blocks have been dropped, according to Swedish authorities, who explained that the rapper and his entourage acted in self-defense. A petition demanding the rapper’s release has reached almost 625,000 signatures following concerns about the conditions in which he is being held.