In ASAP Rocky’s documentary Stockholm Syndrome, the Harlem rapper reportedly addresses the efforts of Donald Trump to get him out of Swedish prison in a preview shared by Rolling Stone, saying that Trump’s efforts had the opposite effect of helping.
According to Rolling Stone‘s preview of the documentary, which premiered during the Tribeca Film Festival this weekend, Rocky talks about finding out about his unexpected supporter, “I’m sleeping in my halfway dream. I heard my name. I kind of opened my eyes and closed my eyes again and then they said my name again. And I opened my eyes and I’m like, ‘Yo, what the f*ck?’” At the time, Trump inserted himself in what was later revealed to be a PR bid to clean up his image among Black voters, cajoling the Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven to intervene on Rocky’s behalf after the rapper was arrested for a fight on the streets of Stockholm and charged with assault.
“I said ‘Aw shit,” Rocky jokes. “Look like I might do a bid.”
Elaborating on his thoughts about the situation, Rocky explains, “I kinda was scared that Trump was going to f*ck it up. But then on the other hand, I’m just like, ‘That’s what’s up, man.’ You want the most support you could and it’s like, ‘Oh, the president supports you.’ That felt good. Cause for the most part, I don’t think he ever knows what’s going on in the urban communities … I was thankful for that, I can’t lie. I was also scared that it would jeopardize me being in [jail] longer.”
Rolling Stone reports that toward the end of the film, Rocky addresses the Trump administration’s insistence that he never “properly” thanked the man for his efforts. ““It was a chess move and they tried to strong-arm a lot,” he says. “In reality, I had no problem saying thank you to the man, especially if he helped me. 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.“