Alleged human traffickers Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan Tate flew back to the United States after being detained in Romania for over two years.
Both brothers, who are dual U.S.-British citizens, have been accused of human trafficking of minors, rape, and money laundering. They deny these claims. A private jet left the Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport just after 4:00 a.m. GMT en route to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It landed Thursday morning.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) said the brothers are not welcome in the state. He also said the state’s attorney general “is looking into what state hooks and jurisdictions we have to deal with this.”
“Florida is not a place where you’re welcome with that kind of conduct in the air,” DeSantis said Thursday as the two men were expected to arrive in South Florida.
“I don’t know how it came to this. We were not involved,” DeSantis said. “We were not notified. I found out through the media.”
It is unclear how a deal was reached between the U.S. and Romania to lift the travel ban on the brothers. Andrew Tate said on social media earlier this month, “The Tates will be free, Trump is the president. The good old days are back. And they will be better than ever. Hold on.”
President Donald Trump’s legal counsel, Alina Habba, recently said she is a “big fan” of Andrew Tate. Earlier this month, the Financial Times reported that Trump’s special envoy, Richard Grenell, met the Romanian foreign minister at the Munich Security Conference to discuss bringing back the brothers.
However, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu rejected this report and said the U.S. “has not made any requests” to Romania “upon the legal situation of well-known foreign influencers investigated by the Romanian authorities.”
Romanian officials have said the charges still stand, and the Tate brothers are expected to appear in court. The courts most recently ruled that the trial could move forward but did not set a trial date.
According to the BBC, some of the Tate brothers’ seized assets have been returned by Romanian authorities, including five rental properties and a partial share of another property, six luxury vehicles, and unfrozen bank accounts.
A statement from Matthew Jury, who represented British women who filed criminal complaints of rape and sexual assault against Tate, 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.”
“There is clear evidence to support the allegations against Tate that he is one of the world’s worst human traffickers and serial rapists,” Jury said. “That the US Government would choose to lobby for his release is absurd but sadly, given its actions over the past month, perhaps unsurprising.”
The Tate brothers’ arrival on U.S. soil comes as Trump is set to meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Washington, D.C. Bedfordshire Police in the United Kingdom said Thursday their investigation into the Tate brothers is “ongoing.”
WITH ANDREW TATE, THE ENEMY OF YOUR ENEMY IS NOT YOUR FRIEND
Last year, Bedfordshire Police were granted a warrant by authorities in Romania to extradite the Tate brothers to the U.K. on separate unrelated allegations of rape and human trafficking.
The former kickboxer is popular in far-right circles, mainly with young male followers who also voted in large numbers for Trump in the 2024 election.