The brothers, who hold double US and British citizenship, were allowed to travel after Romanian authorities relaxed movement restrictions.
Controversial influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate arrived in Florida on Thursday, marking their first return to the United States since being charged with human trafficking in Romania.
Tates arrived at Fort Lauderdale Airport around noon.
The brothers, who hold double US citizenship, were given permission to travel after Romanian authorities eased restrictions on their movement.
Their trip to the US follows a court ruling in December citing legal and procedural misconduct that prevented their case from proceeding to trial.
However, the accusations against them remain active, with another investigation underway in Romania.
Andrew Tate, 38, and his brother Tristan, 36, were formally charged last year with participating in a criminal ring that allegedly invited a woman to Romania for sexual exploitation. Andrew Tate faces additional rape fees. Both brothers consistently deny all allegations against them.
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Romanian anti-organised crime agency DIICOT confirmed in a statement that prosecutors have approved a request to change Tates’ travel restrictions. The agency did not specify who made the request. “Deliberately breaching these obligations could result in the replacement of judicial governance with more severe deprivation measures,” he warned.
“Zero Tolerance”
Upon arriving in Florida, the brothers faced immediate scrutiny from state officials.
Florida Attorney General James Usmierer has announced plans for a “preliminary investigation” to Tates.
“Florida is not resistant to trafficking or violence against women. If any of these suspicious crimes cause Florida’s jurisdiction, we will hold them accountable,” Usmeyer said.
Addressing a reporter at the airport, Andrew Tate maintained his innocence.
“We live in a democratic society where we are innocent until we prove guilty. And I think my brother and I are largely misunderstood. There’s a lot of opinions about us. Sometimes we go around us on the internet,” he said.
On Thursday, a Romanian court upheld the brothers’ appeal to lift the seizure of several assets, including six luxury cars, land and property and stock in the company, according to Tate spokesman Mateea Petrescu.
“While some assets remain under preventive seizures, this control marks an important step towards justice,” Petrescu said. She added that previously frozen bank accounts have not also been frozen.
Former professional kickboxer and self-descriptive misogynist with over 10 million followers on X, Andrew Tate has repeatedly claimed that Romanian prosecutors lack evidence against him, claiming political conspiracy to silence him.
The brothers’ recent departure comes shortly after Romanian Foreign Minister Emil Frezeanu said he had asked about the brothers’ situation at the recent Munich Security Council. Hurezeanu says they did not put any pressure on Tates to raise travel restrictions.
When asked whether his administration had pressured the Romanian government to release Tates, Trump told reporters Thursday in an oval office that he knew nothing about the situation. “I don’t know anything about it. I’ll check out. I’ll let you know.”
UK claim
In the UK, four women are also pursuing a civil lawsuit against Andrew Tate, alleging sexual violence and physical abuse. In a joint statement on Thursday, the woman said the news of the lifting of the travel ban “has been “distrust and re-splitting.”
The lawyer representing the women, Tribute Matthew Ju has decided to “disappoint the travel ban.”
Tates is also facing the possibility of extradition to the UK after British authorities issued an arrest warrant for alleged sexual assault in a case ranging from 2012 to 2015, and then appeared in court in Bucharest in another case in March 2024.
Late last year, a UK court allowed authorities to seize £2.6 million ($3.3 million) from their brothers to cover unpaid taxes and freeze some of their accounts.
Andrew Tate called the action “complete theft” and “a coordinated attack on anyone who dares to challenge the system.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
