Donald Trump administration leans on Romania to relax restrictions on Andrew Tate and brother Tristan, reports

18 February 2025, 10:19 | Updated: 18 February 2025, 12:56

Donald Trump's administration has reportedly made multiple attempts to pressurise Romania to lift travel restrictions on Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan, who are facing a series of criminal charges in the country.

The pair have been released from house arrest, but are not allowed to leave the country. They deny charges of human trafficking, sexual misconduct and money laundering, as well as starting an organised crime group.

It is claimed US officials have discussed the Tates' case with their Romanian counterparts, according to reports in The Financial Times.

Andrew Tate - a champion of Donald Trump - along with his brother are dual US and UK nationals.

The newspaper reports that, during several conversations, a request was made to return the brothers' passports while legal proceedings continue.

Tate brothers: What are the charges?

It also claims that Mr Trump's special envoy Richard Grenell personally met Romania's foreign minister, although Mr Grenell said he had "no substantive conversation" with Emil Hurezeanu and there was no follow-up.

However, according to The Financial Times, he said: "I support the Tate brothers as evident by my publicly available tweets."

A spokesperson for Mr Hurezeanu told the newspaper: "Romanian courts are independent and operate based on the law, there is due process."

Earlier this month Mr Grenell alleged that, under President Joe Biden's administration, America's aid programmes had been "weaponised against people and politicians who weren't woke", and referenced Romania as an example.

The post on X suggested that funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has been used to strengthen Romania's judicial system. Since Mr Trump's inauguration, USAID programmes have been slashed.

Meanwhile, Tristan Tate also referenced the same claim in a post on X calling on supporters to find out "if any USAID went to Romania to fund any particular Lawfare base investigations".

Andrew Tate has previously used the term 'lawfare' to compare the legal system to a weapon being used to target innocent people, like himself.

Romania has also been targeted by vice president JD Vance, who last week criticised the decision of the country's top court to cancel Romania's elections because of accusations of Russian meddling.

Mr Vance dismissed allegations of a disinformation campaign.

"If you're running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you," he said.

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The brothers are fighting a series of legal battles not just in Romania, but the UK and now also the US. The Tate brothers have consistently denied any wrongdoing in connection with all the legal action taking place.

A recent lawsuit filed in Florida accuses both Tate brothers of conspiring to coerce a woman into sex work, luring her to Romania and defaming her after her testimony to Romanian authorities. The Tate brothers had previously sued her for defamation in 2023.

Police in Bedfordshire are also investigating allegations of rape and human trafficking.

In January, an appeal court in Romania sent the case against the brothers back to prosecutors. They were also released from house arrest but told they cannot leave Romania.

(c) Sky News 2025: Donald Trump administration leans on Romania to relax restrictions on Andrew Tate and brother Tristan, reports