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Trump Pursues His Attack on Sweden, With Scant Evidence Trump, a Loyal TV Viewer, Leaves Sweden Feeling Abandoned
(about 5 hours later)
LONDON — President Trump escalated his attack on Sweden’s migration policies on Monday, doubling down on his suggestion — based on a Fox News report — that refugees in the Scandinavian country were behind a surge in crime and terrorism. PALM BEACH, Fla. — On Friday night, Fox News aired an alarming six-minute segment in which the host Tucker Carlson interviewed a documentary filmmaker about a crisis of violence in Sweden ignited by the recent wave of Muslim migration.
Mr. Trump set off consternation and ridicule on Saturday when he seemed to falsely imply to a throng of supporters at a rally in Florida that a terrorist attack had occurred in Sweden, which has admitted tens of thousands of refugees in recent years. “The government has gone out of its way to try to cover up some of these problems,” declared Ami Horowitz, the filmmaker.
On Sunday, as questions swirled, a White House spokeswoman, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said that “he was talking about rising crime and recent incidents in general, not referring to a specific issue.” “That is grotesque,” Mr. Carlson responded.
Mr. Trump then said on Twitter that he was referring to a Fox News segment about an American filmmaker who argues that the police in Sweden are covering up a migrant-driven crime wave. One of his viewers agreed, and in that moment was born a diplomatic incident that illustrates the unusual approach that President Trump takes to foreign policy, as well as the influence that television can have on his thinking. After watching the program, Mr. Trump threw a line into a speech the next day suggesting that a terrorist attack had occurred in Sweden the night before.
Officials in both countries expressed alarm and dismay at Mr. Trump’s remarks. Senator Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, said the president should get his information from intelligence agencies and not from television. The Swedish Embassy in Washington offered the Trump administration a briefing on its immigration policies. On Monday, Sweden’s prime minister, Stefan Lofven, said he was surprised by Mr. Trump’s comments, and noted that Sweden ranked highly on international comparisons of economic competitiveness, human development and income inequality. Just like that, without white papers, intelligence reports, an interagency meeting or, presumably, the advice of his secretary of state, the president started a dispute with a longtime American friend that resented his characterization and called it false. The president’s only discernible goal was to make the case domestically for his plans to restrict entry to the United States.
“We have challenges, no doubt about that,” he said, but he added: “We must all take responsibility for using facts correctly and for verifying anything we spread.” The Swedes were flabbergasted.
Yet even before the prime minister spoke, Mr. Trump pursued his attack. On Twitter, he suggested that the news media was covering up problems related to migration in Sweden. “We are used to seeing the president of the U.S. as one of the most well-informed persons in the world, also well aware of the importance of what he says,” Carl Bildt, a former prime minister of Sweden, said by email on Monday. “And then, suddenly, we see him engaging in misinformation and slander against a truly friendly country, obviously relying on sources of a quality that at best could be described as dubious.”
Immigration is, in fact, a hotly debated issue in Sweden, Germany and many other European countries, and it is a subject of frequent news coverage. While aides sought to clarify that Mr. Trump’s remarks were about a rising tide of crime in general, rather than any particular incident or attack, the president chose to escalate. In a Twitter post on Monday, he accused American journalists of glossing over a dark and dangerous situation in Sweden. “Give the public a break,” he wrote. “The FAKE NEWS media is trying to say that large scale immigration in Sweden is working out just beautifully. NOT!”
Moreover, statistics in Sweden do not back Mr. Trump’s claims. Preliminary data released last month by Sweden’s crime prevention council found no significant increase in crimes from 2015, when the country processed a record 163,000 asylum applications, to 2016. The council did note an increase in assaults and rapes last year, but it also recorded a drop in thefts and drug offenses. Sweden’s prime minister, Stefan Lofven, responded hours later at a news conference, noting that Sweden ranks highly on international comparisons of economic competitiveness and human development.
Officials say they have not seen any evidence for the claim, prevalent in right-wing news outlets like Breitbart and Infowars, that migration has driven a major surge in crime. The government has not provided a breakdown of crime statistics according to the ethnic or national background of suspects since 2005, although one right-wing party has called on the government to provide updated statistics. “We have challenges, no doubt about that,” he allowed. But he added pointedly, “We must all take responsibility for using facts correctly and for verifying anything we spread.”
Manne Gerell, a doctoral student in criminology at Malmo University, said in an interview that immigrants were disproportionately represented among suspects in crimes, particularly in more serious and violent offenses. But he also noted that many of the victims were other immigrants, whether members of criminal networks or simply residents of poor neighborhoods. Sweden is hardly the first American friend to find itself uncomfortably at odds with the new president. Mexico’s president canceled a meeting with Mr. Trump over his plans to build a border wall and bill the United States’ southern neighbor for it. Mr. Trump reportedly lit into Australia’s prime minister in a telephone call that was said to have ended abruptly.
But the episode underscored that Mr. Trump obtains, processes and uses information differently from any modern president. He watches television at night and tends to incorporate what he sees into his Twitter feed, speeches and interviews.
“It begs the question of where the president gets his information as he articulates his administration’s global approach,” said Mark Brzezinski, the ambassador to Sweden under President Barack Obama. “To do so in an improvisational way, based on snippets picked up from cable news, is a major mistake and jeopardizes an international partnership that advances the American interest in so many ways.”
Immigration is a hotly debated issue in Sweden, Germany and many other European countries. Sweden, which prides itself as a humanitarian leader, processed a record 163,000 asylum applications in 2015. But statistics in Sweden do not back up the suggestion that immigrants have created a crime wave.
Preliminary data released last month by Sweden’s crime prevention council found no significant increase in crimes from 2015 to 2016, even with the influx of migrants. The council did note an increase in assaults and rapes last year, but it also recorded a drop in thefts and drug offenses.
Manne Gerell, a doctoral student in criminology at Malmo University in Sweden, said in an interview that immigrants were disproportionately represented among crime suspects, particularly in more serious and violent offenses. But he noted that many of the victims were other immigrants, whether members of criminal networks or simply residents of poor neighborhoods.
“Immigration will come with some cost, and we will likely have a bit more crime — but that’s in a society with low crime rates and in a society that works really well, so in my opinion, it’s something we can live with,” he said. “I know everybody won’t agree with that. But immigration will not double the crime rate, make everybody go broke or turn Sweden into a living hell.”“Immigration will come with some cost, and we will likely have a bit more crime — but that’s in a society with low crime rates and in a society that works really well, so in my opinion, it’s something we can live with,” he said. “I know everybody won’t agree with that. But immigration will not double the crime rate, make everybody go broke or turn Sweden into a living hell.”
Although terrorism is a concern for Sweden — an Iraqi-born Swede blew himself up in central Stockholm in 2010 — the authorities say they are equally worried about racist hate crimes, including attacks on migrants.Although terrorism is a concern for Sweden — an Iraqi-born Swede blew himself up in central Stockholm in 2010 — the authorities say they are equally worried about racist hate crimes, including attacks on migrants.
The consensus in Sweden was that Mr. Trump’s comments were not helpful. In interviews, members of Parliament expressed anger at the president. “This statement created an unnecessary discussion and misunderstanding,” said Karin Enstrom, the foreign affairs spokeswoman for the opposition Moderate Party.
Carl Bildt, a former prime minister and foreign minister of Sweden, made a jab at Mr. Trump on Twitter: “Just a piece of friendly advice: when you are in a hole, stop digging.” The Fox News segment featured an interview with Mr. Horowitz, whose short film, “Stockholm Syndrome,” depicted Sweden as a place where rape and violence have been on the rise since it began accepting more refugees from Muslim countries.
A terrorism expert, Magnus Ranstorp, the research director of the Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish Defense University in Stockholm, said Mr. Trump was trying to shift the focus of his comments from asylum seekers and crime to immigration in general. In the Fox interview, Mr. Horowitz acknowledged that most Swedes do not see the situation the way he does.
In interviews, members of Parliament expressed anger at the president. “They’ll make excuses for it,” Mr. Horowitz said. “The majority of the population in Sweden still wants to have an open-door policy. It’s confounding.”
“This statement created an unnecessary discussion and misunderstanding,” said Karin Enstrom, the foreign affairs spokeswoman for the opposition Moderate Party. “We expect the president of the U.S. to base his statements on facts.” Mr. Trump was clearly struck by the interview, and he cited Sweden at a rally in Melbourne, Fla., on Saturday as he argued for stronger borders. “You look at what’s happening last night in Sweden,” he said. “Sweden! Who would believe this? Sweden. They took in large numbers. They’re having problems like they never thought possible.”
Another lawmaker, Pernilla Stalhammar, the foreign policy spokeswoman for the Green Party, expressed surprise that Mr. Trump had relied on Fox News for information about Sweden. Aides later said “last night” referred to the Fox program, not to an episode the night before. Mr. Carlson argued on Monday that although “the president ought to be precise in what he says, there should be no confusion about what he means.”
“The problem is that the segment had a lot of incorrect information in it,” she said. “There aren’t any no-go zones in Sweden, and the number of crimes against individuals is at about the same level as it was.”
She added: “This incident demonstrates the importance of thoroughly critiquing sources to prevent spreading incorrect images that risk fomenting xenophobic sentiments in society. That Sweden is portrayed incorrectly is very serious. We cannot allow reality to be kidnapped by untruths that become true just because they are repeated enough times.”
The Fox News segment was an interview by the host Tucker Carlson with Ami Horowitz, a filmmaker who asserted that the police “oftentimes try to cover up some of these crimes” committed by migrants.
On Fox News on Monday, Mr. Carlson argued that while “the president ought to be precise in what he says, there should be no confusion about what he means.”
Mr. Carlson said that assimilation had failed and that immigration was “in the process of totally changing these ancient cultures into something different and much more volatile and much more threatening.”Mr. Carlson said that assimilation had failed and that immigration was “in the process of totally changing these ancient cultures into something different and much more volatile and much more threatening.”
Critics of Sweden’s migration policies have pointed to a Facebook post on Feb. 3 by a police officer, Peter Springare, who said that migrants were taxing Sweden’s pension, education and health care systems and that migrants were the principal culprits in assaults. Some of them do not have papers and cannot be properly prosecuted, he said. Mr. Horowitz did not respond to a request for comment.
Critics of Sweden’s migration policies have pointed to a Facebook post on Feb. 3 by a police officer, Peter Springare, who said that migrants were taxing Sweden’s pension, education and health care systems and that they were the principal culprits in assaults. Some migrants do not have papers and cannot be prosecuted properly, he said.
“Half of the suspects we cannot even be sure of because they don’t have any valid papers,” he wrote. “Most often this means they are lying about their country of origin and identity.”“Half of the suspects we cannot even be sure of because they don’t have any valid papers,” he wrote. “Most often this means they are lying about their country of origin and identity.”
However, other police officers disagree. The Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter on Monday quoted two police officers interviewed by Mr. Horowitz, Anders Goranzon and Jacob Ekstrom, saying that the filmmaker had selectively edited and distorted their comments to prove his thesis in a video he posted on YouTube. They said that Mr. Horowitz had asked them about high-crime neighborhoods and that they did not agree with his argument about the link between migration and crime. But the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter on Monday quoted two police officers interviewed by Mr. Horowitz, Anders Goranzon and Jacob Ekstrom, saying that the filmmaker had selectively edited and distorted their comments to prove his thesis. They said that Mr. Horowitz had asked them about high-crime neighborhoods, and that they did not agree with his argument about links between migration and crime.
“This is bad journalism,” Mr. Goranzon said. Mr. Horowitz did not respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Lofven, the prime minister, told the news organization Expressen on Feb. 7 that Mr. Springare was exaggerating. “I have a hard time seeing that 100 percent of the police’s investigative capacity is occupied with crimes perpetrated by immigrants,” he said.