The Trump administration pressured Romanian authorities to lift travel restrictions on influencer Andrew Tate, a supporter of the U.S. president, who is facing criminal charges in Bucharest.
The case of the Tate brothers was first discussed by American officials in a phone call with the Romanian government last week and then raised again by Trump’s former foreign policy advisor, Richard Grenell, when he met with the Romanian foreign minister at the Munich Security Conference, said three sources familiar with the matter to Financial Times.
A fourth source said that a request was made to return the Tate brothers' passports and allow them to travel until the judicial proceedings are concluded.
Romanian Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu declined to comment on his discussion with Grenell. His spokesperson said that Hurezeanu initiated the meeting and that they "have known each other for a long time," as both served as ambassadors in Berlin during Trump's first presidency.
The spokesperson did not comment on their specific discussions, stating that "Romanian courts are independent and operate on the basis of the law, there is a fair process here," reports FT.
Grenell, whom Donald Trump appointed last week as interim executive director of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, told the cited newspaper that Hurezeanu saw him in the hallway at the Munich conference and requested a meeting, but they had "no substantive discussion."
"I support the Tate brothers, as seen in my publicly available tweets," he said.
Grenell, a vocal supporter of Trump, wrote this month on X that Romania was the "latest example" of how funds paid by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) were "used as weapons against people and politicians who were not woke." The Trump administration cut USAID payments and attempted to fire many of its employees.
Tristan Tate called on his supporters to find out "if any USAID funding went to Romania to finance certain investigations of the Lawfare base (a term that refers to the use of legal systems and institutions to harm or delegitimize an opponent or to discourage a person from using their legal rights)" - in an apparent reference to his and his brother's own cases, the newspaper reports.
Andrew and his brother Tristan Tate, who hold dual American and British citizenship, have become a cause célèbre in right-wing social circles after being arrested in Romania in 2022 and charged with human trafficking, sexual abuse, money laundering, and leading an organized criminal group. They have denied committing crimes.
The Tate brothers have millions of online followers in the "manosphere" - online platforms for young men promoting male superiority and rejecting feminism - which played a role in Trump's reelection. Tucker Carlson, a Trump ally and former Fox host, conducted favorable interviews with both brothers, inviting viewers to "make up their own minds" about them.
Moreover, Tristan Tate boasted on X in November about the brothers' role in the U.S. elections, claiming that "millions of young people in Europe and the U.S. have a healthy right-wing approach to politics, which they would NOT have had if Andrew Tate had never appeared on their phone screens," FT notes.
Andrew Tate recently won a legal victory in Romania, as an appeals court sent the case back to a lower court. He was released from house arrest in the case involving the sexual exploitation of 34 women and placed under judicial control.