'JeSuisIkea': Trump's comments confuse Swedes as supporters cry cover-up

Donald Trump’s comments during a rally in Florida on Saturday night that seemed to suggest a non-existent terrorist attack had taken place in Sweden have pitted the Scandinavian nation against some fervent supporters of the US president.

Defending his plans to ban refugees and travel from seven Muslim-majority countries, Trump told a crowd in Melbourne: “You look at what’s happening in Germany, you look at what’s happening last night in Sweden.” No terrorist attack or major crime took place in Sweden on Friday night.

While the Swedes are still scratching their heads over Trump’s comments, and the former prime minister Carl Bildt wonders on Twitter what the president had been smoking, some Trump supporters believe the media is “intent on covering up what migrants have done to Sweden”.

Trump on Sunday clarified his comments, saying they related to “immigrants & Sweden” and were based on a Fox News report.

However, there is little evidence that the nation is suffering under a migrant-led crime wave. In fact, the most pressing issue in Sweden at the moment is apparently who will become the nation’s Eurovision entrant.

Margot Wallström, the Swedish foreign minister, tweeted an extract of the country’s foreign policy declaration for 2017 which talks about Oxford Dictionaries declaring the term “post-truth” its international word of the year.

The Swedes were not alone in their confusion and bemusement - Twitter spawned the hashtags #IStandWithSweden and #jesuisIKEA.

Others, including the Swedish embassy in Washington, wondered if the US president should look elsewhere for his information on the state of foreign nations.