The Tates and Trump's inner circle: The deepening ties that led to the controversial influencers flying to freedom in America

On 7 November 2024, days after Donald Trump was elected president, Andrew Tate posted a prediction on X.

In response to a tweet asking what could come next, he replied: "My case being dismissed. Watch this space ?".

Then, on 12 February, he posted again. "The Tates will be free, Trump is the president. The good old days are back," read the post.

Two weeks later, on 27 February, Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan arrived at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport from Bucharest, Romania, after a Romanian court ruled they could leave the country. The brothers had been barred from travelling for over two years over criminal investigations.

Mr Trump denies knowing about the lifted travel ban, but an analysis of links on social media shows deepening ties between Andrew Tate and several people close to the US president.

The 38-year-old former kickboxer and his brother, both dual US-UK nationals who face criminal civil proceedings in Britain and the US and deny all allegations against them, haven’t been shy about their support for Mr Trump.

Speaking to the media outside a courthouse in Romania in January, Tate said: "Donald Trump is the future of the western world, everybody knows it, and everybody needs to get in line and obey him. He runs the world. He's a good friend of mine and I’m going to help him."

Key members of the Trump administration have been vocal in their support of the alleged human trafficker and sex offender online, an alliance that experts say could benefit both sides.

"In the political climate, Tate should serve as a valuable influencer for political movements. And he's got a huge ability to mobilise large online followings, and that's a big potential political asset," said social media consultant Matt Navarra.

"Social media is the new battleground and influencers are the new generals and Tate is perfectly aligned to Trump's mission."

Mr Trump himself hasn't openly spoken out in support of the Tates, and denies having any knowledge about the brothers' return to the US. "I know nothing about that," he said in a press conference during a visit by UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

But some of his closest advisors have been vocal in their support of the Tates. This includes Elon Musk, who in January responded to a video of Andrew Tate talking about running for prime minister of the UK, commenting, "he’s not wrong".

Musk was responsible for reinstating Tate’s X account after he bought the platform in 2022. Tate now has nearly 11 million followers on X.

Another recent endorsement came from Alina Habba, a counselor to the president and previous legal spokesperson for Mr Trump.

On 12 January this year she spoke to Tate on The Benny Show podcast – saying she was a "big fan" and telling him "I got your back over here".

In response, Mr Tate replied: "If I ever get back state side, and I think I will sooner or later, if I ever need a lawyer I’ll be calling your phone."

But this support isn't new. The president’s son Donald Trump Jr has long been a fan of Andrew Tate. The two met at Trump Tower in New York in 2017, and in May 2023 he showed his support in a post on X where Tate vented about his house arrest - calling it "absolute insanity".

Paul Ingrassia, the newly appointed White House liaison for the Department of Justice, was one of the lawyers Andrew Tate hired to fight his human trafficking case. He's often praised Tate, posting his support publicly on X.

Dan Bongino, the Trump-appointed deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has promoted Tate’s account on Rumble - one of the few social video platforms where Tate isn’t banned.

Now, Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan are back in Florida, after a Romanian court ruled they could leave the country.

This decision came soon after Richard Grenell, a special envoy for the U.S. and a close ally of Trump, urged Romanian officials to lift travel restrictions on the brothers, according to a report by the Financial Times.

Mr Grenell had spoken to Romania’s foreign minister, Emil Hurezeanu, at the Munich Security Conference earlier this month.

After the Tates left Romania for Florida, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu denied that the country faced any pressure from the US.

The Tate brothers both face a series of criminal charges in Romania, including human trafficking, sexual misconduct and money laundering, which they deny, and are fighting a series of legal battles in the UK and the US.

Mr Grenell seems aligned with some of the Tates' thinking too. At the start of February, he joined a conversation on X started by Tristan Tate.

Tate mused about whether any USAID money had gone into supporting legal investigations in Romania, a thought which suggests his suspicions that American government funding was being used in the case against him.

Mr Grenell weighed in, saying: "USAID programs were weaponized against people and politicians who weren’t woke."

But not all members of the Trump administration are pro-Tate.

Some close to Trump have been vocal in their dislike of him. Sebastian Gorka, Trump’s deputy assistant and senior director for counter terrorism, has called Tate "scum" and a "pervert", and posted multiple mocking posts about him on X.

Vice president JD Vance has kept relatively quiet in speaking directly about Andrew Tate. But the two have voiced similar views about women’s rights in the recent past.

In a 2021 Fox News interview, Vance complained the US was being run by Democrats, corporate oligarchs and "a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too".

This echoes comments by Tate, who was recorded on the Fresh and Fit podcast in 2022 saying “life without children [...] is inane and it’s pointless," going on to say: "If you sit here and genuinely think you’re going to work your ass off through your fertile years and by the age of 54, you’re not going to be suicidal, alone with a cat, then you are dumb."

"The cultural narrative is a common thread for both sides positioning themselves as defenders of traditional values," said Matt Navarra, the social media expert.

"Both the Tates and figures within Trump Circle often employ similar rhetorical strategies," he added.

Mr Vance also followed both of the Tate brothers on X in December, and has been supportive of online influencers who have partnered with Tate in the past. In his first TikTok, in August last year, he was filmed with the Nelk boys, who regularly host Tate on their podcast.

Reuters has reported that Andrew and Tristan plan to return to Romania at the end of March to fulfil legal obligations, but many will be watching closely to see what mark they make on America in the meantime.

The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open-source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

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