Andrew Tate Is Returning to the U.S., Apparently Because He Likes Donald Trump

The Tate brothers are headed back to the United States. Reporting suggests that Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate, who have been held in Romania since 2022 on charges of human trafficking, sexual misconduct, and money laundering, are now returning to the United States after Donald Trump leaned on the Romanian government.

Following the news that the two brothers are returning to the United States, many wanted to learn more about whether they are actually U.S. citizens and whether they'll be staying in the U.S. Here's what we know.

Both Andrew and Tristan hold dual U.K. and U.S. citizenship, per NBC News, meaning that they might be in America for the long haul once they land here.

Andrew and Tristan are accused in Romania of luring women into the country and then sexually exploiting them. Andrew is also accused of rape. Both brothers deny all the allegations against them. A court ruled in December that the case could not go to trial because of a number of irregularities in the prosecutor's office.

In spite of that ruling, though, the Tate brothers are still under investigation in Romania, and until quite recently, they were under travel restrictions that prevented them from returning to the United States.

In a statement from DIICOT, Romania's anti-organized crime unit, they said that they had approved a request to waive the Tates' travel restrictions but did not say who had made the request.

“The defendants have been warned that deliberately violating these obligations may result in judicial control being replaced with a stricter deprivation of liberty measure,” the statement said, meaning that they are still required to appear in Romanian court when summoned.

They might not be out of the woods in Romania, but their return to U.S. soil will certainly be celebrated as a triumph among their right-wing fans.

A former kickboxer, Andrew Tate is best known for being an influencer in the online right, where he espoused a variety of offensive views and proudly described himself as a misogynist. Both he and his brother are vocal supporters of Donald Trump, and it certainly seems like that support might have had something to do with their ability to travel back to the U.S.

“The Tates will be free. Trump is the president. The good old days are back. And they will be better than ever. Hold on," Andrew wrote on Twitter. It's unclear whether he had been promised anything, or simply believed that Donald Trump would exert some influence to bring him home once he was back in office.

Of course, the Tate brothers, who stand accused of pretty heinous crimes, somewhat contradict the Republican talking point that suggests they are super afraid of sexual predators. At this point, the allegations against the Tates are just that, but if I were a political figure, I might work fairly hard to distance myself from two men who are proud of how much they publicly hate women.