Trump Admin Pressures Romania on Tate Brothers

The Trump administration has pressured Romanian authorities to lift travel restrictions on Andrew Tate, a supporter of the US president who is facing criminal charges in Bucharest, the Financial Times reports.

Andrew and his brother, Tristan Tate, who have dual US and British citizenship, were arrested in Romania in 2022 and charged with human trafficking, rape and money laundering, as well as forming an organised crime group. They have denied the charges.

The Tate brothers’ case was first raised by US officials in a phone call with the Romanian government last week and was then pursued by Trump’s special envoy, Richard Grenell, when he met with the Romanian foreign minister at the Munich Security Conference, three sources familiar with the matter told the Financial Times.

Another FT source said a request had been made to return the Tate brothers’ passports and allow them to travel while they await the conclusion of legal proceedings.

Romanian Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu declined to comment on the exchange with Grenell. His spokesman said Hurezeanu had initiated the meeting and that the two had “known each other for a long time,” as both were ambassadors to Berlin during Trump’s first term.

At the same time, Grenell said he had “no substantive conversation” with Hurezeanu, who “saw me in the hallway” in Munich and “asked me to meet.”

“I support the Tate brothers, as evidenced by my publicly available tweets,” he added.

The Tate brothers have millions of fans on online platforms, with a discourse that promotes male superiority and rejects feminism. Tucker Carlson, a Trump ally and former Fox host, has conducted interviews with both brothers, inviting viewers to “make up their own minds” about them.

In November, Tristan Tate boasted on X about his and Andrew’s role in the US election, claiming that “millions of young people in Europe and the US have a healthy approach to right-wing politics that they would NOT have if Andrew Tate had never appeared on their phone screens.”

Tate brothers win Romanian court case

The UK is also seeking the extradition of the Tate brothers after Bedfordshire police obtained an arrest warrant in an investigation into allegations of rape and human trafficking. The Romanian court ruled last year that they could be extradited after a final decision was made in the case in Romania.