Donald Trump administration leans on Romania to relax restrictions on Andrew Tate and brother Tristan, reports
Donald Trump’s administration has reportedly made multiple attempts to pressurise Romania to lift travel restrictions on Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan, who are facing a series of criminal charges in the country.
The pair have been released from house arrest, but are not allowed to leave the country. They deny charges of human trafficking, sexual misconduct and money laundering, as well as starting an organised crime group.
It is claimed US officials have discussed the Tates’ case with their Romanian counterparts, according to reports in The Financial Times.
Andrew Tate – a champion of Donald Trump – along with his brother are dual US and UK nationals.
The newspaper reports that, during several conversations, a request was made to return the brothers’ passports while legal proceedings continue.
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It also claims that Mr Trump’s special envoy Richard Grenell personally met Romania’s foreign minister, although Mr Grenell said he had “no substantive conversation” with Emil Hurezeanu and there was no follow-up.
However, according to The Financial Times, he said: “I support the Tate brothers as evident by my publicly available tweets.”
A spokesperson for Mr Hurezeanu told the newspaper: “Romanian courts are independent and operate based on the law, there is due process.”
Earlier this month Mr Grenell alleged that, under President Joe Biden’s administration, America’s aid programmes had been “weaponised against people and politicians who weren’t woke”, and referenced Romania as an example.
The post on X suggested that funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has been used to strengthen Romania’s judicial system. Since Mr Trump’s inauguration, USAID programmes have been slashed.
Meanwhile, Tristan Tate also referenced the same claim in a post on X calling on supporters to find out “if any USAID went to Romania to fund any particular Lawfare base investigations”.
Andrew Tate has previously used the term ‘lawfare’ to compare the legal system to a weapon being used to target innocent people, like himself.
Andrew Tate at the court of appeals building in Bucharest. File pic: AP
Romania has also been targeted by vice president JD Vance, who last week criticised the decision of the country’s top court to cancel Romania’s elections because of accusations of Russian meddling.
Mr Vance dismissed allegations of a disinformation campaign.
“If you’re running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you,” he said.
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The brothers are fighting a series of legal battles not just in Romania, but the UK and now also the US. The Tate brothers have consistently denied any wrongdoing in connection with all the legal action taking place.
A recent lawsuit filed in Florida accuses both Tate brothers of conspiring to coerce a woman into sex work, luring her to Romania and defaming her after her testimony to Romanian authorities. The Tate brothers had previously sued her for defamation in 2023.
Police in Bedfordshire are also investigating allegations of rape and human trafficking.
In January, an appeal court in Romania sent the case against the brothers back to prosecutors. They were also released from house arrest but told they cannot leave Romania.
Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump he “will not back down” from Russia’s goals in Ukraine during a phone call today, the Kremlin has said.
The Russian president spoke to his US counterpart for almost an hour, and Mr Trump “again raised the issue of an early end to military action” in Ukraine, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
In response, Mr Putin said “Russia will not back down” from its aims there, which include “the elimination of the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs,” Mr Ushakov said.
The phrase “root causes” is shorthand for Moscow’s argument that it was compelled to invade Ukraine in order to prevent the country from joining NATO.
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Trump and Putin’s latest call on Ukraine
Ukraine and its European allies say this is a pretext to justify what they call an imperial-style war, but Mr Trump has previously shown sympathy with Russia.
At the same time, Mr Putin told the US president that Russia is ready to continue negotiating, the aide said.
The Russian president said any prospective peace deal must see Ukraine give up its NATO bid and recognise his country’s territorial gains.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, seen with Mr Trump in June, is pushing for Ukraine to join NATO. Pic: Reuters
He also briefed Mr Trump on agreements made last month, which saw Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners of war and dead soldiers.
Specific dates for the third round of peace talks in Istanbul were not discussed – nor was the US decision to halt some shipments of critical weapons to Ukraine.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s call came after the Pentagon confirmed some weapons due to be sent to Ukraine have been held as it reviews military stockpiles.
The paused shipments include air defence missiles and precision-guided artillery, two people familiar with the situation have said.
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The decision led to Ukraine calling in the acting US envoy to Kyiv on Wednesday to underline the importance of military aid from Washington.
Kyiv also cautioned that the move would weaken Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against intensifying Russian airstrikes and battlefield advances.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s phone call was the sixth they have publicly disclosed since the US president returned to the White House in January.
Donald Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ has been passed by the US congress, sending it to the president to sign into law.
The controversial tax breaks and spending cuts package cleared its final hurdle as the Republican-controlled House of Representatives narrowly approved the bill with a 218-214 vote.
The bill delivers tax breaks Mr Trump promised in his 2024 election campaign, cuts health and food safety programmes, and zeroes out dozens of green energy incentives.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), it will lower tax revenues by $4.5trn over 10 years and add $3.4trn to the US’s $36.2trn debt.
But despite concerns over the 869-page bill’s price tag – and its hit to healthcare programmes – Republicans largely lined up in support, with just two rebelling on the vote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is congratulated following the vote. Pic: Reuters
Every Democrat in Congress voted against the bill, blasting it as a giveaway to the wealthy that will leave millions of Americans uninsured.
House Speaker Mike Johnson made the Republicans’ closing argument for the bill, telling Congress: “For everyday Americans, this means real, positive change that they can feel.”
Earlier, the House’s Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries gave a record-breaking eight-hour and 44-minute speech against it.
“The focus of this bill, the justification for all of the cuts that will hurt everyday Americans, is to provide massive tax breaks for billionaires,” he said.
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The bill’s spending cuts largely target Medicaid, the health programme that covers 71 million Americans on low incomes.
It will tighten enrolment standards, institute a work requirement and clamp down on a funding mechanism used by states to boost federal payments.
The changes could leave nearly 12 million people without health insurance, according to the CBO.
On the other side of the ledger, it will stave off tax increases that were due to hit most Americans at the end of the year, when tax cuts from President Trump’s first term were due to expire.
It also sets up new tax breaks for overtime pay, seniors and tipped income.
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The bill narrowly passed the US Senate on Tuesday after vice president JD Vance cast the deciding vote to break a 50-50 tie.
Mr Trump will sign it into law on Friday at 5pm local time (10pm in the UK), the White House said.
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