Trump administration ‘asks Romania to lift restrictions on Andrew Tate and his brother’

The Trump administration has allegedly put pressure on Romanian authorities to lift a travel ban imposed on controversial influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan.

Self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate rose to infamy for his controversial brand of sexist content – including saying women should “bear responsibility” for being sexually assaulted – which appeals to young men and boys.

The brothers, who are dual UK and US nationals, were arrested in Romania in 2022 and charged with sexual offences, human trafficking, money laundering, with prosecutors also claiming they “appear to have created an organised crime group with the purpose of recruiting, housing and exploiting women, by forcing them to create pornographic content meant to be seen on specialised websites, for a cost”.

Both men deny any wrongdoing.

Now, the Financial Times has claimed the case was brought up with the Romanian government by US officials during a phone call, which was followed by Richard Grenell, Donald Trump’s special presidential envoy, telling Romania’s foreign minister Emil Hurezeanu that “he is interested in the fate of the Tate brothers”.

Andrew Tate has been a vocal supporter of Trump and a request was allegedly made to return to two men’s passports so they could leave Romania. The brothers are currently being held “under judicial control”, which means they can travel throughout the country “while adhering to the required legal conditions”.

Grenell has previously expressed support for the pair, writing earlier this month on X/Twitter that Romania was the “latest example” of how “USAID programmes were weaponised against people and politicians who weren’t woke”.

Since returning to the White House, Trump has slashed billions of dollars’ worth of federal funding and foreign aid and has taken steps to close the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Andrew Tate has also posted on X, claiming he and his brother’s arrest was a “USAID-sponsored attack” and that “none of the charges against me were ever real”.

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