As their Gulfstream jet flew over the Atlantic, it was unclear what kind of reception Andrew and Tristan Tate could expect to receive in America.
Detained in Bucharest for the past three years on charges of human trafficking and sexual misconduct, the brothers were given their passports back last month as Romanian authorities lifted a travel ban, prompting outrage from a trail of alleged victims.
Shortly afterwards, the Tates — who deny any wrongdoing — left the country on a private jet destined for Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Any doubts they might have had about their welcome, however, were quickly assuaged after landing.
“Welcome to the States, boys,” Dana White, the chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and a friend and ally of President Trump, told them with a chest bump and a smile at a Las Vegas event on Saturday night.
A whistle-stop tour that followed of the VIP clubs of Miami, big-ticket boxing bouts in Vegas and exclusive celebrity gyms in Los Angeles started to resemble a victory lap.
Andrew and Tristan Tate at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event in Las Vegas on March 8
MIKAEL ONA//SHUTTERSTOCK
While Trump has kept his distance, telling reporters he “knew nothing” about the Romanians’ decision to release the brothers, The Times has been able to establish intriguing connections between the Tates and the Trump administration.
Andrew, a 38-year-old former kickboxer and online influencer, and his younger brother, Tristan, 36, also a former boxer, have not been shy about their support for Trump over the years. Andrew in particular is hugely influential in the male-dominated alt-right internet culture, a demographic widely credited with delivering Trump his election win.
The plane that flew the men, who hold dual British and American citizenship, on February 27 was rented from the Chicago-based Woods Management LLC by the McBride Law Firm.
When asked if Trump had played a role in the Tates’ release, Joseph McBride, their attorney, told reporters: “Do the math. These guys are on the plane.”
He added: “Andrew and Tristan Tate’s ‘welcome home’ reception grows louder wherever we go. In every store we enter, at every traffic light where they’re seen, and in every hotel lobby we visit, there’s nothing but admiration, gratitude, and praise for [them].”
The Tates at a Power Slap fighting event in Las Vegas
SPLASH
Paul Ingrassia, who worked on the Tates’ defamation case against an alleged sex trafficking victim in the US, at McBride Law until he left the firm last year, was appointed White House liaison for the Department of Justice in January before being transferred to the Department of Homeland Security in February.
Ingrassia is said to have described his role to White House colleagues as being Trump’s “eyes and ears”. One Florida attorney suggested it could amount to a conflict of interest. Ingrassia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He previously called Andrew an “extraordinary human being”, embodying “the ancient idea of excellence”, and said the firm was “working round-the-clock” to prove his innocence.
Tate in a video he posted after arriving in Miami
The brothers’ repatriation was said to have been first broached by Richard Grenell, Trump’s special envoy, who discussed their case with Emil Hurezeanu, Romania’s foreign minister, during a conservation on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany last month.
Roger Stone, a Republican operative and one of Trump’s closest political confidants, appeared to inadvertently confirm the government’s role in a March 6 social media post that was deleted but screengrabbed and shared with The Times. “@RichardGrenell secured the release of the Tates because there was no evidence against them,” it read, alongside a photograph of himself with Andrew and Tristan.
Since arriving in the US, the brothers have appeared on the Full Send podcast, hosted by Kyle Forgeard of the Nelk Boys, a close ally of White, as well as on the Trump-supporting podcasts of Patrick Bet-David and Keith and Kevin Hodge.
Also in attendance at the UFC event was Kash Patel, the newly confirmed director of the FBI, who posed for pictures with Grenell.
Dana White, Kash Patel and Ali Abdelaziz at the UFC event
“Imagine thinking Andrew Tate is fleeing the law but chilling ringside with the FBI director,” a Tate fan wrote in a comment Andrew shared with his ten million followers on X.
Capping off the brothers’ first full week in America was a meeting with Kanye West, the rapper who endorsed Trump but has since been outcast for his antisemitic comments.
They “talked for hours about the suffering and betrayals they’ve endured for achieving greatness on their own terms,” McBride said of the interview, which is set to be broadcast at a later date.
The Tates with Kanye West
The reception was not quite as warm everywhere.
Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of Florida, who has sparred with Trump and ran against him for the presidential nomination last year, has said the Tate brothers were not welcome in his state, and that James Uthmeier, his attorney-general, would investigate whether any of their alleged crimes triggered Florida jurisdiction.
“Come get me if I’m guilty and charge me in a COURT OF LAW,” Andrew Tate said in a goading message directed at DeSantis, before telling his followers: “Ron DeSantis thought I was disliked, I guess, and he could jump on the bandwagon of dickheads and idiots who don’t believe in due process.”
The brothers are facing a civil suit in Florida. An American woman sued the Tates for allegedly luring her to Romania and coercing her into sex work. They countersued, claiming she had given fabricated evidence to Romanian authorities.
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Four women in the UK have also filed a civil suit against Andrew, accusing him of rape and coercive control. Both Andrew and Tristan have denied all allegations made against them.
The men were also ordered by a UK court in December to pay more than £2 million after they were accused of being “serial tax evaders” who have “not paid a penny” on £21 million earned between 2014 and 2022. The brothers and another person only referred to as “J” were accused of fraudulently “washing money around UK bank accounts” to dodge tax payments.
Andrew has become one of the most influential figures in the so-called manosphere — perhaps not in spite of his alleged abuse of women, but because of it. It emerged in a London court this week that Kyle Clifford, who was convicted of the killing of his ex-girlfriend, her sister and mother, had watched Tate’s misogynist videos the night before the murders. The prosecutor in the case called Tate the “poster boy for misogyny” and told the court: “It is no coincidence that it was Andrew Tate the defendant turned to the night before he would go on to commit these acts of violence against women.”
Andrew, whose content on sites such as TikTok, X and Rumble has been viewed billions of times collectively, has been offering followers a window into his new life, which harks back to a time before his five-month house arrest — one filled with booze, nightclubs and scantily clad women.
Tate in some of his videos filmed in Miami
The Times identified the 5,000 sq ft, $6.4 million waterfront condominium in the exclusive Sunny Isles Beach area of Miami the brothers appear to have rented.
The advert on the Coldwell Banker Luxury site boasts that the property has a “$120k exotic master shower with a stone that has millions of years old fossils”.
The mansion which appears to have been rented by the Tates in the Sunny Isles Beach area of Miami
THE MEGA AGENCY
The brothers have made millions of dollars over the years from media deals with platforms such as Rumble, as well as adult webcams, where women in their employ would perform for money.
According to the Romanians’ 2023 indictment, Andrew’s net worth is in the range of $12 million and Tristan’s about $10 million. Some sources suggest it may be higher, with estimates for Andrew’s wealth reaching up to $710 million and Tristan’s up to $170 million, based on investments in cryptocurrency, real estate, and other ventures.
Romanian police unfroze their seized assets in January, including five properties, six cars — among them two Audis and a Ferrari — and £25,000 Hublot watches.
Andrew’s 100 per cent stake in War Room Vegas and Tristan’s 50 per cent stake in SC Spirit House Enterprises were also released. War Room is the name of Andrew’s global network, where for a £6,200 membership fee he teaches men how to be “free”.
The backlash started on Thursday, however, after Spotify took down one of Andrew’s podcasts, titled Pimping Hoes, for a breach of company rules.
The brothers, who were born in Washington to an American father, Emory, and English mother, Eileen, spent much of their childhood in Luton, Bedfordshire, after their parents’ divorce, but still have relatives in Illinois and several other US states.
Melvin Cox, their cousin, said only that the family was “trying not to judge them”, while another relative, who did not wish to be named, refused to believe the allegations against them.
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How long they plan to remain in the US is unclear. On a recent podcast, Andrew vowed to return to Romania to face trial, though no date has been set. Romanian prosecutors said their investigations had not been dropped and the men were expected to return to Bucharest.
The younger Tate appeared intent on escalating the feud with the Florida governor, however, potentially jeopardising prospects of a long-term stay. “All the media is owned by satanists and evil people,” he said. “If Ron DeSantis wants to join their side instead of the side of truth, he’s going to end up paying the price.”
