Andrew and Tristan Tate have arrived in Florida via a private jet after being permitted to depart Romania thanks to an intervention by the administration of Donald Trump.
The siblings, who hold dual US and UK citizenship and had been residing near Bucharest, were taken into custody in 2022 on charges related to human trafficking, sexual misconduct, money laundering, and the establishment of a criminal organization. They have refuted all allegations.
Furthermore, they are confronted with allegations of rape and human trafficking in the UK. A court in Bucharest has decreed that they may be sent back to the UK once a final verdict is issued in their Romanian case.
They had requested to leave Romania for the US to attend to ‘family issues they wanted to resolve’, sources told Romanian media. But their arrival in the US has sparked outrage from their alleged victims.
British women accusing Andrew Tate of rape of human trafficking said they are ‘in disbelief’ and ‘feel retraumatised by the news that the Romanian authorities have given into pressure from the Trump administration’ and allowed him to travel.
In a joint statement to MailOnline, the four British women added: ‘We can only hope that the British authorities finally take action and do something about this terrifying unfolding situation to ensure he faces justice in the UK.’
The Tates left Romania at around 5am local time (3am UK time) via Baneasa airport following pressure by the Trump administration to lift the travel restrictions imposed on them.
Andrew, 38, and Tristan, 36, left the country by private jet, with sources adding that the brothers were headed to Florida after their passports were returned to them by Romanian authorities.
This afternoon, their plane was seen arriving in Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, a little over 12 hours after they departed from Romania.
During their landing, Andrew Tate posted a photo seemingly from inside the private jet, showing him sat on a seat with a large dog on his lap.
But footage taken from the tarmac of the airport showed Tate wearing completely different clothing and without the dog, suggesting this photo may have been taken at a prior time. It is not known exactly when the photo was taken.
Representatives for Tate revealed that a Romanian court ruled today that all the money, cars, watches, properties and other goods seized will be returned to the brothers.
Among the returned assets are six sports cars, five land properties, two bank accounts as well as the shares in two companies.
Lawyers representing the Tates’ alleged victims have urged the UK government to step in, saying it would be ‘a complete abdication of its responsibility to the victims if it stands by and lets this continue’.
‘The UK authorities must take immediate steps to secure their extradition to the UK to face charges for the offences of human trafficking and rape they are alleged to have committed in this jurisdiction,’ solicitor Matthew Jury urged, adding that the brothers being allowed to travel was ‘equal parts disgusting and dismaying’.
Their arrival in Florida was met with resistance from former Trump ally Ron DeSantis, the Governor of the Sunshine State.
He said of the pair’s arrival to his state: ‘We have no involvement in that. I read about it through the media. Clearly the federal government has jurisdiction, whether they want to rebuff his entry into the United States, and I have confidence that whether it’s Pam Bondi or Kristi Noem that they will be looking at that.
‘I do know our Attorney General, James Uthmeier, is looking at what state hooks and jurisdiction we may have to be able to deal with this. But the reality is, no, Florida is not a place where you’re welcome with that type of conduct in the air.
‘And I don’t know how it came to this. We were not involved, we were not notified.’
A spokesperson for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told Newsweek: ‘We had no involvement in [the Tate brothers] coming here.’
The UK’s Conservative Party said the US ought to make the Tate brothers ‘face our justice system.’
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said in a post to X: ‘The US now needs to step up. We have an extradition treaty with them and they need to cooperate fully.
‘The Tate brothers stand accused of rape and human trafficking in the UK and must face our justice system.’
The Tate brothers’ release comes after officials from the Trump administration earlier this month pressured Romanian authorities to lift travel restrictions on self-described misogynist influencer Tate and his brother Tristan as they face criminal charges in the country.
US officials raised their case with Bucharest in a phone call in early February before following up with a meeting between Trump’s special envoy Richard Grenell and the Romanian foreign minister, sources reportedly told the Financial Times.
Another insider told the newspaper that a request had been made to return the brothers’ passports and allow them to travel while they await the conclusion of their court proceedings.
The brothers’ movements have been restricted since their 2022 arrest – spending three months in police detention, before being put under house arrest and then being prevented from leaving the country.
The British Tate accusers allege that he raped and coercively controlled them. They say they were victims of sexual violence between 2013 and 2015 before he became known as an influencer.
They told MailOnline: ‘It is clear that there is now a major risk that the criminal prosecution for his alleged crimes in Romania will not proceed, and he may use this development as an opportunity to harass further and intimidate witnesses and his accusers as well as continue to spread a violent, misogynistic doctrine around the world.’
The women are fundraising to pay for the cost of pursuing a civil case against Tate after the CPS dropped the criminal case following a four-year investigation. Tate denies the allegations.
Mr Jury, who is part of the women’s legal team, said about Tate and his brother being allowed to leave Romania: ‘The UK Government knew this might happen more than a week ago. The fact that nothing seems to have been done to prevent it is concerning.’
He added: ‘One can only hope action will now be taken.
‘Given that Prime Minister Starmer is in the US today to meet with President Trump, perhaps his team may take the opportunity to raise this issue on behalf of the many British women who Tate is alleged to have raped and sexually assaulted who may now be denied justice.’
The Romanian special prosecutor’s service (DIICOT) investigating the Tate brothers said in a statement that the case against the two has not been dropped.
A source told Reuters that the brothers would return towards the end of March to fulfil legal obligations related to their criminal case in Romania, which require them to check in with police at regular intervals.
BBC journalist Nick Thorpe said Andrew and Tristan Tate will declare the travel restrictions imposed upon them being lifted as a ‘great victory’.
According to DIICOT, the only thing that changed in the case is that the travel restrictions that dictated that the Tate brothers could not leave Romania has been lifted.
Should they fail to appear for any upcoming hearings in court in Romania, this ‘may lead to the replacement of judicial control with a higher measure of deprivation of liberty, DIICOT said in their statement.
The brothers previously said in a statement that they ‘remain fully dedicated to working alongside their legal team to explore every legal avenue available within the framework of Romania’s judicial system.
‘Their sole focus is on ensuring that due process is followed and that their innocence is established in a court of law.’
An advocate of Trump who once described him as ‘the best president in history’, Tate suggested after the 2024 election that his case in Romania would now be dismissed, telling his followers to ‘watch this space’.
Following Trump’s win, Tate also posted: ‘THE PATRIARCHY IS BACK,’ before reiterating his belief that women should not be allowed to vote.
Grenell had insisted that there had been ‘no substantive conversation’ between him and Romanian foreign minister Emil Hurezeanu at the Munich Security Conference, but added that ‘I support the Tate brothers as evident by my publicly available tweets.’
Romania’s Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu had also denied being pressured by the Trump administration to lift the travel restrictions imposed on the Tate brothers.
The alleged victims of Andrew Tate were ‘absolutely distraught’ after hearing that Trump’s officials lobbied to lift travel restrictions against the influencer.
Jury previously told BBC Newsnight the victims were ‘distraught’ at hearing the news.
He said: ‘They are absolutely distraught, if you can imagine these are women who are victims of the most horrible and horrific alleged crimes. To see the most powerful man in the world support their alleged abuser is incredibly traumatising.
‘They are absolutely bewildered as to why the Trump administration has decided to interfere in this way.’
MailOnline has contacted representatives for Tate for comment.
