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Trump's Sweden comment raises questions

<p>"You look at what's happening last night in Sweden. Sweden, who would believe this? Sweden!" President Donald Trump said during his Florida rally Saturday.</p><p>That's Trump expressing his shock over an incident in Sweden. But that left some Swedes scratching their heads because, well, there wasn't one.</p><p>Trump was talking about terror attacks around the world when he brought up Sweden. That makes this the third nonexistent attack cited by this administration.</p><p>The first time was when Kellyanne Conway suggested there had been a massacre in Bowling Green, Kentucky. And the second was when White House press secretary Sean Spicer mentioned a nonexistent terrorist attack in Atlanta, Georgia. Both later admitted they had <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/02/03/trump-adviser-invents-bowling-green-massacre-defense-refugee-ban/97436748/" target="_blank">been confused</a> and were referring to <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/08/politics/spicer-alleged-atlanta-terror-attack-trnd/" target="_blank">different events</a>.</p><p>It's not clear what attack the president was thinking of, but it's possible he was confusing Sweden with Sehwan, a city in Pakistan where at least <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39001703" target="_blank">80 people died</a> in a suicide bombing Thursday.</p><p><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/trump-suggests-sweden-troubled-refugees-fox-news-report-article-1.2976456" target="_blank">Others</a> linked his comments to a segment that aired on Fox News on Friday night. It tried to correlate Sweden's recent rise in crime with the large number of asylum seekers.</p><p>It seems Trump was trying to drum up support for his controversial travel ban and immigration policy. But since Sweden started its open-door policy in 2013, immigrants have carried out <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39020962" target="_blank">zero terrorist</a> attacks.</p><p>In fact, the last terrorist attack in Sweden was in 2015 and was carried out by a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/22/pupils-wounded-in-sword-attack-at-swedish-school" target="_blank">Swedish man</a> believed to have far-right sympathies. </p><hr><b>Trending stories at <a href="http://www.newsy.com">Newsy.com</a></b><ul class="inline-related-links"><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/florida-professor-s-talk-of-few-trump-days-is-only-talk/">Recent Talk Of A Super Short Trump Presidency Is Just ... Talk</a></li><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/trump-brings-fan-gene-huber-on-stage-at-florida-rally/">Trump Surprised A 'Yuge' Fan At His Florida Rally</a></li><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/judge-orders-epa-head-pruitt-to-release-thousands-of-emails/">Trump's New EPA Head Is In The Middle Of An Email Controversy</a></li></ul>
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Donald Trump's reference to "what's happening last night in Sweden" during a Saturday rally in Florida raised questions in Sweden and around the internet about what he really meant and where he gets his information.

The President clarified his remarks Sunday, posting on Twitter that his statement "was in reference to a story that was broadcast on @FoxNewsconcerning immigrants & Sweden." The tweet confirmed suspicions of many that Trump's remarks stemmed from Tucker Carlson's show Friday night, in which the host interviewed Ami Horowitz, a filmmaker who has tried to tie Sweden's taking in of asylum seekers to increased violent crimes in the country.

Within two hours of the President's post, the official Twitter account of the Embassy of Sweden in the US responded: "We look forward to informing the US administration about Swedish immigration and integration policies."

Trump's reference to the Scandinavian nation, known for liberally accepting Syrian refugees, originally occurred during his Saturday speech.

"We've got to keep our country safe," he said. "You look at what's happening in Germany. 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. You look at what's happening in Brussels. You look at what's happening all over the world. Take a look at Nice. Take a look at Paris."

The comments appeared to refer to recent terror attacks in Germany and elsewhere, but no such attack has occurred in Sweden. That led some on Twitter to speculate he might have watched the Fox News report.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters earlier Sunday the President was "talking about rising crime and recent incidents in general and not referring to a specific incident."

She reiterated that Trump did not mean to say "last night" but was referring to the rise in crime in the country.

Meanwhile, the official Swedish embassy responded to those asking about what happened Friday night by saying: "Unclear to us what President Trump was referring to. Have asked US officials for explanation."

Carl Bildt, the former Swedish prime minister, also questioned the President's statement on Twitter.

"Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking?" Bildt tweeted. "Questions abound."

Trump's remark is the latest misplaced reference to a terrorist attack or incident by those in his White House. Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway inaccurately referred to a "Bowling Green massacre" that never took place, and White House press secretary Sean Spicer referred to an attack in Atlanta, later clarifying that he meant to refer to Orlando.