Trump Camp Now Pushing Romania to Loosen Its Legal Grip on Andrew Tate
The Trump administration is reportedly in talks with Romania to lift travel restrictions for Andrew and Tristan Tate, the right-wing social media influencers whose human trafficking, sexual misconduct and money laundering case has become a rallying point among conservatives and who are unable to leave the country amid the legal battle.
On Monday, citing three sources the outlet said were familiar with the matter, The Financial Times reported that during a phone call with the Romanian government, U.S. officials advocated for loosening restrictions on the brothers, pushing the eastern European country to return their passports and allow them to travel while awaiting court proceedings in what has become a protracted legal battle that has left them in legal limbo. The Trump administration’s envoy for special missions Richard Grenell is said to have followed up on the request last week when he ran into Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Emil Hurezeanu at a conference in Munich; Hurezeanu did not comment on the meeting publicly but his rep took a moment to speak on the independence of the Romania’s court system. Grenell, who said he supports the Tates, has previously criticized the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. government’s overseas humanitarian program that Trump and Elon Musk have targeted, in Romania as being “weaponized against people and politicians who weren’t woke.”
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Andrew Tate, a British and American former kickboxer turned manosphere power player, has gained notoriety by presenting a form of toxic masculinity that includes misogynistic views. These include the notion that women are responsible when the victim of a rape attack; that men are the protectors of women, who should be subservient; and that men are frequently victims of false rape claims, among other fringe beliefs he’s publicly espoused. His influence, particularly among wayward young men, is outsized, as video platforms like TikTok ballooned in uses and hours spent on site over the past several years.
Andrew Tate, 37, and his brother, Tristan Tate, 36, have continuously denied the charges against them after they were arrested in Romania in 2022 and charged with human trafficking, sexual misconduct and money laundering.
But in January, the brothers won a victory when house arrest restrictions were eased and they were permitted to move around the country but must still remain in Romania as the legal battle goes on. This came after a December ruling by the Bucharest Court of Appeal that the case against the brothers could no longer move forward. The case now sits in the hands of the prosecutors who are reviewing the evidence.
The brothers also face extradition to England as part of an investigation involving further accusations of human trafficking. Investigators in Bedfordshire obtained an arrest warrant in the case, which also involves allegations of rape, and a Romanian court has ruled that once their case in Romania is resolved, they can be sent back to Britain. More legal trouble came for the brothers last week, when a Florida woman filed a civil complaint that the brothers had lured her to Romania, coerced her into sex work and then defamed her after she testified against them in Bucharest.
The Tate brothers are strong supporters of President Trump. Following Trump’s win in November, Andrew Tate posted on X (formerly Twitter): “I’m moving back to America.”
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