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Swedish embassy offers to 'inform' Trump after 'last night in Sweden' explanation

TT/The Local
TT/The Local - [email protected]
Swedish embassy offers to 'inform' Trump after 'last night in Sweden' explanation
Donal Trump speaking in Florida. Photo: Chris O'Meara/AP

Sweden has offered to "inform the US administration" about the country’s immigration policy after Donald Trump explained his comments about a non-existent incident in the country were provoked by something he saw while watching the news.

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The US President took to Twitter to explain why he had insinuated to a crowd in Florida last Saturday that a serious incident had taken place the night before in Sweden – comments which left Swedes baffled over what he may have been referring to, following a peaceful evening in the Nordic nation.

"My statement as to what's happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on Fox News concerning immigrants & Sweden," Trump wrote on Twitter on Sunday.

In a direct response on the same platform, Sweden's embassy in the US offered to clarify the intricacies of Swedish immigration and integration policies to the US administration.

The Swedish embassy in Washington DC had contacted the US State Department asking for clarification of what Trump was referring to.

"We consider the White House going out and responding in broad terms to also be an answer to us," the embassy noted in a statement to newspaper Dagens Nyheter following Trump's tweet.

It has been speculated that Trump's comments about Sweden were based on a Fox News interview with a filmmaker who made a report about the supposed negative effects of immigration in the country – a package which aired on Friday evening in the US.

The segment has been criticized for being riddled with inaccuracies and false claims. 

Sweden's Foreign Ministry (UD) asked the US administration to explain Trump's comments about the country at the weekend. It said it has no plans to respond to his tweet.

"We’ve noted the tweet in which Donald Trump states that he was talking about a package on Fox News. There's not so much more to say right now," UD press spokesperson Catarina Axelsson told news agency TT on Monday.

Asked whether the ministry plans on responding to alleged factual errors in the Fox news package, Axelsson replied "we'll maybe come back to that later". 

Foreign Minister Margot Wallström told the newswire: "UD and the embassies are working continuously to spread a correct and fair image of Sweden. Unfortunately we're seeing a tendency of an increase in false information."

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