Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan, a pair of far-right masculinity influencers under criminal investigation by the Romanian government for sex trafficking, got a reprieve after the Trump administration got to work leaning on that country’s prosecutors to lift their travel ban, allowing them to visit the United States and move about more freely.
Now, a New York Times report reveals that the Tate brothers made this possible with a far more extensive influence campaign with President Donald Trump’s inner circle than previously realized — including with Trump’s children.
“Interviews with dozens of people in Romania, the United States and Britain, as well as a review of hundreds of pages of court documents and private messages, offer the fullest account yet of how the Tates rose from a fringe corner of the internet to become a cause célèbre on the right,” said the report. “The brothers’ release from Romania was the culmination of a yearslong effort by Andrew to forge alliances with Mr. Trump’s advisers and family members.”
In particular, the report noted, “Andrew … nurtured relationships with Donald Trump Jr. and his younger brother Barron, who recognized the role that young male voters could play in their father’s return to power. Barron, now 19, admired Andrew, and spoke with him over Zoom last year, according to Justin Waller, a mutual friend who was on the call. During the call, they discussed their shared belief that the Romanian criminal case was an effort to silence the Tates, he said.”
Prosecutors in Romania have detailed extensive evidence that the Tate brothers, who hold British and American citizenship, coerced women into performing explicit sexual acts on camera, and that Andrew Tate furthermore sexually assaulted and beat a 15-year-old girl.
The Trump administration’s intervention on their behalf has caused a divide among MAGA acolytes. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — a typical Trump ally who nonetheless has clashed with the president in the past, especially during their rival presidential runs — condemned their arrival in Miami earlier this year, saying, “Florida is not a place where you’re welcome.” This earned him fury from a number of other MAGA influencers.
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