Tate Brothers, Facing Sex Crime Inquiries, Arrive in Florida From Romania

Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan Tate, the British American online influencers, arrived in Florida on Thursday morning after a Romanian court ruled they could leave the country, a development that raised questions about whether the Trump administration played a role in their sudden departure.

The brothers, who had been barred from leaving Romania for more than two years over criminal investigations, boarded a private jet in Romania early Thursday morning local time, said Joseph McBride, their lawyer in the United States. They landed at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport shortly after 11 a.m. and left in an S.U.V. with heavy security around 12:30 p.m.

The Tate brothers have openly aligned themselves with the Trump administration in recent weeks. Romanian officials said that the United States had not put pressure on them, and the Tate brothers’ lawyer, who has long lobbied U.S. lawmakers on their behalf, said he could not comment on whether U.S. officials had used their power to free the men.

Andrew Tate refused to answer questions from reporters on Thursday about President Trump’s involvement. Still, the lawyer, Mr. McBride, said earlier on Thursday: “Do the math. These guys are on the plane.”

During a meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain at the White House on Thursday, Mr. Trump said that he knew nothing about the Tates being released from Romania. Mr. Starmer recognized that “there’s an English element here” and said that “it’s important that justice is done, and human trafficking is obviously, to my mind, a security risk,” adding that he’ll look further into the matter.

Andrew Tate said he and his brother are “largely misunderstood.”

“We’ve yet to be convicted of any crime in our lives, ever,” Mr. Tate said outside the airport. “We have no criminal record anywhere on the planet, ever.”