Andrew Tate, a self-described misogynist charged with human trafficking, has been allowed to leave Romania after a travel ban was lifted following reported pressure from Trump officials, according to reports.
The dual U.S.-British citizen, 38, and his 36-year-old brother Tristan—who was also accused of trafficking—boarded a private jet heading to Florida around 5:30 a.m. local time on Thursday, a person familiar with the matter told The Washington Post. The source added that Romania had lifted its travel restrictions on the brothers following pressure from the Trump administration.
The Tate siblings were forbidden from leaving Romania after they were arrested there in 2022 and charged with human trafficking and the creation of a criminal group to sexually exploit women. Andrew Tate was additionally charged with rape. They deny all of the charges.
“They no longer have a travel ban,” Ioan Gliga, the Tate brothers’ lawyer, told CNN. “The prosecutor, at the request of the lawyers, modified the content of the obligations previously imposed.”
The flight comes after The Financial Times reported earlier this month that Trump’s special envoy Richard Grenell was pulled aside by Romania’s Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu at the Munich Security Conference.
Three unnamed sources told the newspaper that American officials had brought up the Tates’ case with the Romanian government in a phone call which was then followed up by Grenell when he spoke to Hurezeanu. A fourth source told the outlet that a formal request was made to allow the brothers to travel before their legal case has concluded.
Hurezeanu subsequently confirmed he’d spoken about the case with U.S. officials but denied that he’d been pressured to remove any restrictions. A Romanian Foreign Ministry spokesperson told CNN Thursday there was “no pressure, no solicitations,” in the talks.
An official at the Ministry of Internal Affairs told AP anonymously that prosecutors greenlit the decision to let the brothers fly. DIICOT, the anti-organized crime squad that has been investigating the brothers over the last few years, stated that prosecutors approved a “request to modify the obligation preventing the defendants from leaving Romania.”
They did not say who made the request that has temporarily freed the Tates, but did say that judicial control measures remain in place. This means that the charges have not been dropped and the brothers would need to present themselves in front of authorities in Romania if requested. The BBC reports that they are expected back in the country in March.
“The defendants have been warned that deliberately violating these obligations may result in judicial control being replaced with a stricter deprivation of liberty measure,” the DIICOT statement added.
The former pro kickboxer and his brother were arrested near the country’s capital, Bucharest, in late 2022 and formally charged last year alongside two women—the women also deny wrongdoing. In December, a court ruled that the trial could not go ahead due to legal and procedural irregularities on the part of the prosecutors.
Meanwhile, four women who have brought a civil claim against Tate in the U.K. alleging rape and coercive control say they are in “disbelief” and feel retraumatized by the news that “Romanian authorities have given into pressure from the Trump administration to allow Andrew Tate to travel around Europe and to the U.S.”
“We can only hope that the British authorities finally take action, do something about this terrifying unfolding situation and ensure he faces justice in the U.K.,” the women said in a joint statement, according to the Independent.
The brothers face separate allegations in the U.K. relating to sexual aggression dating back to 2012, with British authorities filing an extradition request in connection with the case. A Romanian court ruled that proceedings in Romania must first be brought to a conclusion.
