A day after falsely suggesting there was an immigration-related security incident in Sweden, US President Donald Trump said on Sunday his comment was based on a television report he had seen.
Trump, who in his first weeks in office has tried to tighten US borders sharply for national security reasons, told a rally on Saturday that Sweden was having serious problems with immigrants.
You look at what’s happening last night in Sweden. Sweden. Who would believe this? Sweden. They took in large numbers. They’re having problems like they never thought possible.Donald Trump
No incident occurred in Sweden and the country's baffled government asked the US State Department to explain. Trump explained in a tweet:
Fox News, a US channel that has been cited favourably by Trump, ran a report Friday about alleged migrant-related crime problems in the country.
A White House spokeswoman told reporters on Sunday that Trump had been referring generally to rising crime, not a specific incident in the Scandinavian country.
Sweden’s crime rate has fallen since 2005, official statistics show, even as it has taken in hundreds of thousands of immigrants from war-torn countries like Syria and Iraq.
Trump's comment confounded Stockholm. "We are trying to get clarity," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Catarina Axelsson said.
Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom appeared to respond to Trump on Saturday by posting on Twitter an excerpt of a speech in which she said democracy and diplomacy "require us to respect science, facts and the media."
Her predecessor was less circumspect. Former Foreign Minister Carl Bildt tweeted:
Other Swedes mocked Trump by posting pictures of reindeer, meatballs and people assembling IKEA furniture.
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