According to a recent viral story from Morgan Johanssen, Sweden's current Minister of Justice, the 2019 release of American rapper A$AP Rocky, who was held in the country on assault charges, was secured through a threat of trade war by then-President Donald Trump.

Sweden’s justice minister revealed that #DonaldTrump threatened Sweden with a trade war if #AsapRocky was not released from their custody in 2019 👀 pic.twitter.com/X7l8ie8fbV

— No Jumper (@nojumper) July 1, 2022

Johanssen recently told a Swedish paper that Trump's pressure campaign was one reason to support democracy in powerful countries like the United States, because of consequences that may come about for other nations, saying, “If you can try and do something like this against Sweden, what will you then try and do to slightly weaker countries that don’t have the European Union behind them?”

New proof of classic/common u.s extortion of small countries/allies: Trump threatened to halt trade with Sweden if ASAP Rocky was not released https://t.co/zzl0YFCElH

— ederblog (@ederblog) June 30, 2022

Trump was ready to smack tariffs on Sweden for ASAP Rocky lol https://t.co/zaAlXBUzo2

— Chudi Obi (@NigerianBrother) July 1, 2022

Back in July 2019, A$AP Rocky was arrested in Stockholm following a scuffle involving him and his entourage. Two weeks later, Trump shared on Twitter that he had spoken with Kanye West, and would soon be speaking with the Prime Minister of Sweden about the situation.

The next month, A$AP Rocky was released from Swedish prison and paid a small fine for the incident before returning to the U.S.

Some people online seemed to approve of Trump's actions in Sweden, comparing the plight of A$AP Rocky to that of other Americans incarcerated abroad, such as Brittany Griner, an athlete who is currently imprisoned in Russia for allegedly possessing a THC vaporizer. The situations are, of course, different because the U.S. and Sweden are allies while the U.S. and Russia are notoriously at odds with each other.

Trump threatening a trade war with Sweden over asap Rocky’s freedom is the type of shit ur supposed to do when your economy is big dog on the block

— Marvz (@Marvz_Said_It) July 1, 2022

trump really threatened WAR on sweden to get asap rocky back even tho he literally assaulted a man but brittney griner facing a DIME in a russian prison for a dab pen😭😭😭

— M!r🦦 (@_only1mir_) July 1, 2022

Aside from those who supported the move online, others strongly disapproved and voiced their displeasure at the news.

wish trump never freed asap rocky from sweden

— Spc (@sp_ceii) November 30, 2021

This man is just a bully, a brainless bully.https://t.co/u7QOg1ubkG

— Woestijnboom dot com (@Woestijnboom) July 1, 2022

There is no word on whether A$AP Rocky was allowed to eat dinner with the family during his stay in Sweden.