Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan have landed in Florida in the US after a travel ban in Romania was lifted – as Donald Trump insisted he knows “nothing about that”.
The Tates landed in Fort Lauderdale in a private plane at around 11:30am local time, their representative Mateea Petrescu added.
Speaking around an hour later, Andrew Tate told reporters: “We’ve yet to be convicted of any crimes in our lives ever. We have no criminal record anywhere on the planet ever.
“Our case was dismissed on 19 December in Romania under the Biden administration, and our prosecutor recently decided, because we have no active indictment in court, to let us go and return.
“This is a Democratic society, we’re supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, as my brother and I are.”
The brothers, who champion US President Trump, are facing charges in Romania of human trafficking, sexual misconduct and money laundering, as well as starting an organised crime group.
The self-styled misogynists are dual UK and US nationals whose controversial views are shared widely on social media platforms such as TikTok and X.
Their arrival in Fort Lauderdale comes after the Financial Times reported last week that the Trump administration had lobbied their Romanian counterparts to ease restrictions on the brothers while they face charges.
Romanian foreign minister Emil Hurezeanu said the Tates were mentioned during his brief hallway meeting with Mr Trump’s special envoy Richard Grenell at the Munich Security Conference earlier this month.
Mr Trump was asked about the arrival of the Tates in the US while meeting with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at the White House this evening.
Asked by a reporter if his administration pressured the Romanian government to let the Tates travel, the US president told reporters: “I know nothing about that. You’re saying (Andrew Tate) is on a plane right now?
“I just know nothing about it, we’ll check it out, we’ll let you know.”
Romanian prosecutors later said they had approved a request from Andrew Tate, 38, to travel outside of the country, pending the outcome of a criminal investigation.
The pair had been released from house arrest, but were not allowed to leave the country and were required to check in with the police regularly.
Image: Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan outside a Bucharest court last month. File pic: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via Reuters
“The request to change the obligation of not leaving Romania was approved,” prosecutors said in a statement on Thursday.
“All the other obligations have been maintained, including the requirement to check in with judicial authorities every time they are called.”
A spokeswoman for the Tates told Sky News the Romanian courts had decided they will return to the brothers all of their assets.
This includes restoring their ownership of all previously frozen bank accounts, five properties, six cars including two Audis and a Ferrari, and company shares. Some assets will remain under precautionary seizure, according to the court ruling.
The brothers are fighting a series of legal battles not just in Romania, but also in the UK and the US.
They have consistently denied any wrongdoing in connection with all the legal action taking place.
The Tates grew up in Luton and have millions of social media followers. Andrew Tate also appeared in the UK version of Big Brother in 2016.
The pair are often criticised for their misogynistic views online – particularly as they have a predominately young, male audience.
A number of banned Twitter accounts have been reinstated by Elon Musk. Tate was among those brought back on 18 November 2022 after Musk took over and rebranded it X.
A British court ruled in March that the brothers are also under a European arrest warrant and will be extradited to the UK – where allegations of rape and human trafficking are being investigated by Bedfordshire Police – after Romanian trial proceedings finish for a separate investigation.
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.
Four British women who allege they were raped and coercively controlled by Andrew Tate said they have been “retraumatised” by today’s events.
“It is clear that there is now a major risk that the criminal prosecution for his alleged crimes in Romania will not proceed, and he may use this development as an opportunity to harass further and intimidate witnesses and his accusers as well as continue to spread a violent, misogynistic doctrine around the world,” the alleged victims said in a joint statement.
Tate is facing civil action brought by the women at the High Court. He denies the allegations and has threatened to pursue the women for defamation.
Matthew Jury, their solicitor at McCue Jury & Partners, said: “The news that pressure by the Trump administration has led to Andrew Tate, and his brother Tristan, being allowed to leave Romania by its authorities is equal parts disgusting and dismaying.”
He added: “The UK government knew this might happen more than a week ago. The fact that nothing seems to have been done to prevent it is concerning. One can only hope action will now be taken. Given that Prime Minister Starmer is in the US today to meet with President Trump, perhaps his team may take the opportunity to raise this issue.”
The Ukrainian president said the meeting ahead of Pope Francis’s funeral could end up being “historic.” Hours later, Mr Trump questioned Vladimir Putin’s appetite for peace in a Truth Social post.
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2:49
From Saturday: Trump meets Zelenskyy at funeral
Speaking before boarding Air Force One on Sunday, Mr Trump again said the meeting went well, and that the Ukrainianleader was “calmer”.
“I think he understands the picture, I think he wants to make a deal,” he said, before turning to Mr Putin and Russia.
“I want him to stop shooting, sit down and sign a deal,” the US president said, adding he was “very disappointed that they did the bombing of those places (including Kyiv, where nine people were killed in a Russian airstrike on Friday) after discussions”.
However, Mr Trump said he thinks Mr Zelenskyy is ready to give up Crimea, which the Ukrainian leader has repeatedly said he would refuse to do.
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He added that “we’ll see what happens in the next few days” and said “don’t talk to me about Crimea, talk to Obama and Biden about Crimea”.
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, while Barack Obama was president.
Meanwhile, US secretary of state Marco Rubio told Sky’s US partner network NBC News that a peace deal to end the war was “closer in general than they’ve been any time in the last three years, but it’s still not there”.
“If this was an easy war to end, it would have been ended by someone else a long time ago,” he added on the Meet the Press show.
It comes after North Korea confirmed it had deployed troops to fight for Russia, months after Ukraine and Western officials said its forces were in Europe.
State media outlet KCNA reported North Korean soldiers made an “important contribution” to expelling Ukrainian forces from Russian territory, likely to be the Kursk region.
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KCNA said leader Kim Jong Un made the decision to deploy troops to Russia and notified Moscow, and quoted him as saying: “They who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honour of the motherland.”
It also quoted the country’s ruling Workers’ Party as saying the end of the battle to liberate Kursk showed the “highest strategic level of the firm militant friendship” between North Korea and Russia.
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1:26
From June 2024: Putin drives Kim around in luxury limo during state visit
The North Korean leader promised at the time “full support and solidarity to the Russian government, army and people in carrying out the special military operation in Ukraine”.
At least 40 people have been killed and several hundred more injured after an explosion and fire at Iran’s largest port, according to state media.
The blast, at the Shahid Rajaei container hub near the southern city of Bandar Abbas, happened on Saturday as Iran held a third round of talks with the US in Oman about Tehran’s nuclear programme.
Shipping containers burned, goods inside were badly damaged and the explosion was so powerful that windows several miles away were shattered, reports said.
Image: Iranian Red Crescent rescuers work at the site of the blast. Pic: Reuters
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0:26
The blast at the Shahid Rajaei port happened as Iran and the US met for the third round of negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program.
Helicopters and aircraft dumped water from the air on the blaze and by Sunday afternoon it was 90% extinguished, the head of Iran’s Red Crescent Society told state media.
Officials said port activities had resumed in unaffected parts of Shahid Rajaei.
Out of the 752 people who had received treatment for their injuries, 190 were still being treated in medical centres on Sunday, according to Iran’s crisis management organisation.
Chemicals at the port were suspected to have worsened the blast, but the exact cause of the explosion was not clear.
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Iran’s defence ministry denied international media reports that the explosion may be connected to the mishandling of solid fuel used for missiles.
The reports were “aligned with enemy psyops [psychological operations]”, according to a ministry spokesperson, who told state TV the blast-hit area did not contain any military cargo.
Image: Firefighters work to extinguish the blaze. Pic: AP
According to the Associated Press, British security company Ambrey said that the port in March received sodium perchlorate, which is used to propel ballistic missiles and the mishandling of which could have led to the explosion.
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The Financial Times previously reported two Iranian vessels had shipped from China enough of the ingredient to propel up to 260 mid-range missiles.
It was reportedly to help Tehran replenish stocks after its missile attacks on Israel in 2024.
Iran’s military has sought to deny the delivery of sodium perchlorate from China.
Iran’s state-run Irna news agency reported on Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin deployed several emergency aircraft to Bandar Abbas to provide help.
Anna and Irene have already been queuing for an hour or so, and they know they have a long wait still to come.
“Two hours, three hours, ten hours – what does it matter?” says Irena. “This is about eternity.”
They have come to Rome from Slovenia, Catholics who felt “Papa Francis would have wanted us to be here”.
Image: People take photos of the grave of late Pope Francis inside St. Mary Major Basilica. Pic: AP/Andrew Medichini
Image: A single white rose left on the tomb. Pic: Vatican
And under the sun outside Santa Maria Maggiore, they are awaiting the opportunity to visit his tomb.
Francis, says Irena, “was like a rainbow” who lit up the world. Anna nods along: “We are so happy to be here.”
The Pope’s tomb has become a new source of pilgrimage.
More than 30,000 people came to view it during the first morning after the Pope’s funeral, the queue snaking from the front of the mighty basilica and then up and down across the square at the back.
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Some were curious visitors, others were devout followers – priests and nuns mixing in the queue with tourists and devoted locals.
All of these admired Francis; a very few actually knew him.
Father Alessandro Masseroni is a deacon who came to Rome to train to become a priest. On his phone, he shows me a photo of him and Francis, with the Pope offering words of encouragement.
Image: Father Alessandro Masseroni meeting the Pope
He says: “I had the honour to serve Pope Francis and to talk to him many times and it was a special experience. I understand why he was so loved by all the people – he was simple and direct.
“He was sunny. St Francis was his role model and when I saw the first picture of the Pope’s tomb, the first thing I thought was of the tomb of St Francis of Assisi.
“Pope Francis will leave a legacy – it doesn’t end with his death but will continue.”
Image: People attend the funeral of Pope Francis. Pic: Reuters/Yara Nardi
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0:38
Video shows Pope’s tomb
What are your emotions now, as you wait to visit his tomb, I ask. Father Alessandro pauses and smiles.
“Many emotions of course, but mainly, I think… thankfulness.”
That has been a recurring aspect among so many of the people we have met in Rome over the past week – the sense that sadness for Francis’s death is outweighed by the sense that his was a life that should be celebrated.
Volodymyr Borysyak flew in from London on the morning of the Pope’s funeral to make his third pilgrimage to Rome.
Barely had he arrived than his phone was stolen, a crime he responded to by praying for the thief.
Volodymyr is a refugee from western Ukraine who worries that his home country’s plight is being forgotten by some of the world.
Now, the Pope who inspired him has died.
You might imagine that he would be resentful and angry. Instead, he is full of smiles.
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7:51
The farewell to Pope Francis
“We are happy to be the pilgrims of the world and this is a special day,” he tells me. “I know the pope used to pray in this basilica so that is why we will stay so long here to visit Santa Maria Maggiore.
“I think Pope Francis was, is and will be the pope for the world, because of the mercy of his heart and his love for everybody.”