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- A$AP Rocky says public support from Donald Trump worsened his 2019 Swedish jail experience.
- He felt moments of being “so low” despite visible celebrity and community backing during detention.
- Trump’s comments, broadcast on Swedish TV, created a narrative that he secured Rocky’s release.
- Rocky credits a negotiator and financial arrangements, not Trump, for his eventual release.
- He feared presidential attention prompted authorities to hold him longer rather than help him.
January 22, 2026
A$AP said there were moments that he felt “so low” and the president’s support didn’t make him feel any better.
While celebrating the success of his fourth studio album, Don’t Be Dumb, rapper A$AP Rocky reminisced on his dark days, including his brief 2019 stint in a Swedish jail was made worse by public “support” from President Donald Trump.
The Harlem-born artist shared that revelation with Ebro Darden on Apple Music 1.
Outside of remembering the small size of the cell and how quickly the lights shut off in the bathroom, the backlash from hearing Trump support him publicly.
A$AP said the support gave authorities the green light to keep him there longer. Or as the rapper put it, “‘Oh, word. Alright, we keeping him longer!”
While he admitted to feeling “honored” by how the hip-hop community and fans around the world were standing up for him while being locked up for an alleged street fight, A$AP said there were moments that he felt “so low.”
The president’s support didn’t make him feel any better.
In his 2021 documentary, Stockholm Syndrome, Rihanna’s partner said the president pushed a narrative that being released was his doing. That wasn’t the case. A negotiator was put on the case, raising financial concerns as A$AP’s lockup took place only two days into a world tour.
“So they didn’t want to pay X amount of millions,” A$AP Rocky explained. “I still ended up being guilty even though they let me go; that was the catch.”
A$AP Rocky could hear his name being said on Swedish television and relied on cellmates to translate it. It was Trump boasting about how Black people were reaching out to him for help on behalf of the “Fashion Killa.”
“Many, many members of the African American community have called me — friends of mine — and said, ‘Could you help?’” Trump said, according to Rolling Stone. “So I personally don’t know A$AP Rocky, but I can tell you that he has tremendous support from the African American community in this country … I have been called by so many people asking me to help A$AP Rocky.”
While he admitted in the documentary to being grateful for Trump getting the public’s eye on his troubles, A$AP wants the record straight that it isn’t because of him that he is free.
“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,” he said.
“That’s the narrative they pushing: That he got me out. And he didn’t free me. If anything, he made it a little worse.”
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