The openly misogynistic social media influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan have touched down in Florida on a flight from Romania, after the eastern European nation lifted a travel ban that was put in place when the pair was arrested three years ago on charges of sex trafficking, rape, and money laundering. It remains unclear why the ban had been lifted, though reports had emerged in recent weeks claiming that the Trump administration was pressuring the Romanian government into granting the brothers freedom of movement. On Thursday, the president said he knows “nothing” about it.
EuroNews Romania reported on February 18th that Trump advisor Richard Grenell leaned on Romania’s Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu concerning the Tate brothers during a meeting in Munich, and the Financial Times reported that days prior, U.S. officials had requested that the Romanian government give them back their passports and allow them to travel until their court cases are resolved. Grenell has refuted the EuroNews report, and Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu has said that Romanian authorities were not pressured by American officials.
On Thursday, President Trump claimed to have no knowledge of the brothers’ activities, telling reporters “I know nothing about that,” in a press conference at the White House alongside United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who stated that he will “catch up on the story in due course.” The Tate brothers are charged with sex crimes in the U.K., as well as tax evasion.
A former kickboxing champion, Andrew Tate first gained broader notoriety after he was booted from the reality show, Big Brother, in the U.K. for allegedly attacking a female co-star, which he denies. Since then he has built a following through social media, flaunting a lavish lifestyle and engaging in “rise-and-grind” style motivation that has garnered him millions of followers on numerous platforms. A major aspect of his online presence throughout has been his open hostility towards women. “I’m a realist and when you’re a realist, you’re sexist,” he once said in a YouTube interview. “There’s no way you can be rooted in reality and not be sexist.” In a post on Twitter (now X), Tate suggested that women “bear some responsibility” for being sexually assaulted, which got him banned from the platform until Elon Musk bought the company and restored his account. Tate’s YouTube, Instragram, and Facebook accounts were also banned for similar rhetoric in 2022, although his presence remains on those platforms due to other accounts reposting his material.
Andrew and his brother Tristan have been accused of luring women to Romania after cultivating manipulative romantic relationships with them, and then forcing them into pornographic video shoots against their will.
