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Rightwing influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan have landed at a Florida airport after flying by private jet from Romania, where prosecutors lifted restrictions that had barred them from leaving the country where they were held on charges including sexual exploitation.
Local TV images showed the brothers, who are dual US and UK nationals, disembarking from a jet at Fort Lauderdale airport near Miami on Thursday. The pair had been detained in Romania since 2022 on charges of human trafficking, sexual exploitation, money laundering and operating an organised crime group. They have denied wrongdoing.
The surprise decision by Romanian authorities to lift travel restrictions on the self-described misogynist influencers came after US pressure that was first reported by the Financial Times, with high-ranking officials in Washington pushing Romanian authorities to lift restrictions on the brothers.
Romanian authorities on Thursday said they had “modified” the ban on the defendants leaving Romania, but prosecutors said the criminal prosecution against the pair continued. The UK has also been seeking to extradite them.
Authorities allowed the brothers to leave Romania on condition that they return next month to report to a local police station, but the people familiar with the matter could not say whether they would comply.
A court in Bucharest on Thursday ruled to unfreeze the brothers’ bank accounts and return their properties and luxury cars, which had been seized as part of the proceedings against them. Some assets still remain “under precautionary seizure”, their legal team said.
Romania’s foreign minister Emil Hurezeanu told on Thursday that he had “no information whatsoever about the release” of the brothers, nor “information about US requests or inquiries”.
The Tates’ detention in Romania has attracted significant interest in the US, where it has been championed on rightwing social media, with figures such as former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson, a leading supporter of President Donald Trump, conducting sympathetic interviews.
Andrew Tate has built a following of several millions on online platforms targeted at young men that promote the idea of male superiority and reject feminism. He moved to Romania in 2017, claiming that the country’s legal system was more permissive in regards to personal freedoms than in the west.
The UK extradition request came after police obtained a European arrest warrant in March 2024 as part of an investigation into allegations of rape and human trafficking. Police in Bedfordshire who are leading that investigation said on Thursday they were working with the Romanian authorities as part of an ongoing probe, but had no further comment.
A group of four British alleged victims of Tate issued a joint statement saying they were “in disbelief and feel re-traumatised by the news that the Romanian authorities have given into pressure from the Trump administration to allow Andrew Tate” to travel to the US.
“It is clear that there is now a major risk that the criminal prosecution for his alleged crimes in Romania will not proceed,” they added.
Matthew Jury, their solicitor at McCue Jury & Partners, called on UK authorities to take “immediate steps to secure their extradition to the UK” to face charges.
Romania has become an unlikely battleground for pro-Trump influencers who have also criticised the country’s authorities for annulling the first round of its presidential election in December. The authorities alleged that extensive Russian meddling had benefited the far-right candidate Călin Georgescu, who finished first.
Prosecutors on Wednesday began a criminal investigation into Georgescu, with legal experts suggesting the allegations against him could be used to block him from running in repeat elections set for May.
Analysts said the two cases underscored the extreme political pressures on Romania’s justice system.
Costin Ciobanu, a researcher at Aarhus University specialising in Romania, said recent events were “likely to spark internal debates and raise questions about how the judiciary” has handled the cases.
Additional reporting by Suzi Ring and Peter Andringa in London
