Melania Trump said Friday she is working with the State Department to try and bring home A$AP Rocky after Swedish police held the rapper for another week in a street brawl investigation.
'We'll be working with the State Department and we hope to get him home soon,' she told reporters in the Oval Office at an event celebrating the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
President Donald Trump said the first lady was the one who brought Rocky's plight to his attention.
Melania Trump said she is working with the State Department to help free rapper A$AP Rocky
ASAP Rocky has been detained in Stockholm since July 3, sparking a social media campaign for his release
'Many, many members of the African-American community have called me, friends of mine, and said can you help. I personally don't know A&AP Rocky but he has tremendous support from the African-American community in this country,' Trump said.
'When I say African-American, I think I can really say from everyone in this country because we're all one. I have been called by so many people asking me to help A$AP Rocky. Actually the one who knew about A$AP Rocky was our first lady. Right? She was telling me about,' he added.
He said talks have already started with Swedish authorities.
'Sweden is a great country. They are friends of mine. The leadership. And we are going to be calling, we'll be talking to them. We've already started,' the president said.
There were reports Thursday that reality television star Kim Kardashian West, who has recently campaigned for criminal justice reform, contacted the White House over the case.
Kardashian West thanked Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner on Twitter Thursday evening for their 'efforts to Free ASAP Rocky & his two friends.'
She says their 'commitment to justice reform is so appreciated.'
A Stockholm court on Friday ordered that Rocky should be kept in custody in Sweden for another week while an investigation is completed into an alleged assault during a street brawl.
Fans and fellow artists have campaigned on social media for the 30-year-old artist, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, to be freed since his arrest shortly after midnight on July 3 following the street fight on June 30.
The Stockholm District Court ordered on July 5 that Mayers should be kept in custody while the case was being investigated, as he was considered a 'flight risk'.
The court then gave the prosecutor until July 19 to decide on whether to press charges.
However the prosecutor requested the deadline be extended to next week as they needed more time to complete the investigation, which the court granted.
Kim Kardashian has contacted the White House about his release and thanked President Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and White House Counselor Jared Kushner via Twitter
The rapper's lawyer Slobodan Jovicic called the court's decision disproportionate.
He said that it was unreasonable to assume Rocky was a 'flight risk' since not returning for a potential trial could mean that the rapper would never be able to visit Europe again, for fear of getting arrested.
'I am very disappointed, even though this was very much expected, given (Sweden's) regulations for detentions and that it's very easy to detain someone,' Jovicic told reporters following the decision.
Jovicic also said that if the prosecutor does press charges and the case goes to trial he was confident that 'Mayers in the end will be acquitted and that he will be able to go home'.
The platinum-selling, Grammy-nominated artist claimed he was acting in self-defense, reacting to the provocations of two young men who harassed and followed him and his entourage.
Three other people were arrested alongside Mayer on July 3 and one of them -- the rapper's bodyguard - was later released.
Prosecutors have now asked to hold the 30-year-old until July 25. Video of the incident appeared to show Rocky violently throw a man to the ground, but footage he released shows him trying to avoid a confrontation (left and right)
An online petition called #JusticeForRocky has garnered more than 600,000 signatures
Part of the incident was captured in a amateur video published by TMZ.
In the video, the rapper, who was in Stockholm for a concert, can be seen throwing one of the men into the street and then aiming several punches at him while he is down.
However Mayers posted his own videos on Instagram showing the lead-up to the clash in which the young man can be seen arguing with the rapper, who repeatedly asks the man and his friend to stop following them.
One of the young men can also been seen hitting a member of the artist's entourage.
According to the Swedish Prosecution Authority a separate investigation into assault and harassment committed by the plaintiffs is also ongoing.
The rapper's lawyer Slobodan Jovicic said he was 'very disappointed' with the court's decision
Fellow artists like Post Malone, Sean 'Diddy' Combs, Nicki Minaj, Meek Mill and Justin Bieber have taken to social media to voice their support for Mayers.
An online petition called #JusticeForRocky has garnered more than 600,000 signatures, and posters with the words 'Free ASAP Rocky ASAP' have been put up around Stockholm.
The US Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs, Carl Risch, met with the rapper in Stockholm on Friday morning, the TT news agency reported, and he is scheduled to meet with representatives of Sweden's foreign ministry.
Several members of the US congress have also called for the New York-born rapper's release.
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News Photo Melania Trump working with State Department to free A$AP Rocky
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