Questions remain over Trump influencepublished at 15:54 Greenwich Mean Time 27 February

15:54 GMT 27 February

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from Florida

I’m in sunny South Florida, where the Tate brothers are expected to land at the Fort Lauderdale airport shortly.

Andrew Tate, a dual UK-US citizen, had said that he was going to move back to America after Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory. And two weeks ago, he wrote on social media that “The Tates will be free, Trump is the president. The good old days are back. And they will be better than ever.”

News of their travel ban being lifted and their assets returned has prompted questions over how much influence President Trump may have personally wielded.

As we reported earlier, US officials in the administration’s inner circle have spoken glowingly about the self-described misogynist and right wing figure.

That includes the president’s son, Don Jr, who has reportedly been friends with Tate since 2016 and Elon Musk. The tech billionaire suggested not too long ago that Tate would make a good UK prime minister.

The former British kickboxer is popular in far-right circles and with young male followers who voted in large numbers for Trump, after the Trump campaign made a concerted effort to reach this group on popular podcasts and with influencers.

For those who wonder what is the political upside of associating with Tate, they forget how much Trump sees controversial figures as an asset, rather than a liability.

Florida-bound jet now in final hour of flightpublished at 15:30 Greenwich Mean Time 27 February

15:30 GMT 27 February

By Thomas Copeland and Richard Irvine-Brown

The flight we have been following today, a Gulfstream jet with the registration number N5430G, is currently bound for the Florida coast.

As we said before, it is the only private flight we saw take off from Bucharest early this morning.

We cannot currently confirm whether the Tate brothers are on board, but we know it is headed to Fort Lauderdale in Florida.

At the time of writing, it is roughly 700km away and travelling at 350kts, and therefore due to land around 16:00 GMT (11:00 local time) .

Image source, Getty Images

As we've just reported, we've heard from a representative of the Tate brothers who says some of their seized assets have been returned by Romanian authorities.

The list of assets they say have been returned includes:

• Five properties and a partial share of another property
• Six cars: an Audi A5, Nissan Murano, Lada 1500, Mercedes-Benz V-Klasse, Audi RS 7 Sportback and a Ferrari 488 GTB
• All previously frozen bank accounts have been unfrozen
• Company shares

The spokesman for the brothers added: "While some assets remain under precautionary seizure, this ruling marks a significant step toward justice. We remain committed to full transparency and will continue to uphold our legal rights."

We're hearing from a spokesman for the Tate brothers who says some of their seized assets have been returned to them by Romanian authorities, including properties and vehicles.

We'll bring you more in our next post.

Bedfordshire Police in the UK have said their investigation into the Tate brothers is "ongoing" after the force was asked to comment on today's developments.

As a reminder, Bedfordshire Police was granted a warrant by authorities in Romania in March last year to extradite the Tate brothers to the UK on separate unrelated allegations of rape and human trafficking - after their trial in Romania on human trafficking charges concluded.

The Tate brothers have denied the allegations against them.

The BBC also asked Bedfordshire Police if the Romanian authorities gave them prior notification of their decision to remove the travel restrictions on the brothers. The police force made no further comment.

Mike Wendling
US digital reporter

Image source, Instagram

Today’s news was preceded by a diplomatic effort on behalf of Donald Trump’s White House.

US officials had brought up the case with the Romanian government earlier this month, a discussion that was first reported by the Financial Times.

And Trump envoy Richard Grenell raised the issue again a little over a week ago, at a security conference in Munich.

There are other ties as well.

One of Tate’s lawyers now works in the White House as a liaison to the US Justice Department.

Paul Ingrassia was part of a team representing the Tate brothers in a defamation lawsuit they filed against several of their alleged victims.

But Ingrassia also acted as Andrew Tate’s publicist and says he got the self-described misogynist influencer onto a show hosted by Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host.

Ingrassia effusively praised Tate in online posts. In one dating from July 2023, he echoed far-right online talking points about moral decay in Western countries and called Tate “an extraordinary human being” who was offering “a dying West some hope for renewal”.

The office of the UK prime minister has declined to comment on the Tate brothers leaving Romania on a private jet bound for Florida.

A Downing Street spokesman said it was a "live case", adding "you wouldn't expect us to comment on ongoing legal proceedings".

"This was a decision taken by the Romanian courts independently following due process and their investigation remains in place.

"But more widely, the prime minister has been clear that human trafficking should be viewed as a global security threat, similar to terrorism."

As a reminder, in March last year a Romanian court ruled the brothers could be extradited to the UK where they face separate allegations of rape and human trafficking. A representative for the Tate brothers has said they "unequivocally deny all allegations".

The spokesperson refused to say whether Prime Minister Keir Starmer would raise the case when he meets US President Donald Trump later on Thursday.

Private jet appears to be heading to Fort Lauderdalepublished at 12:58 Greenwich Mean Time 27 February

12:58 GMT 27 February

By Josh Cheetham and Thomas Copeland

Earlier we mentioned that we’re investigating the only private plane to have left Romania flown west over the Atlantic in the early hours of this morning.

The Gulfstream Jet left Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport just after 04:00 GMT. Its destination is currently blank on flight tracking websites. However there is another way we can find its current destination.

We’ve looked at the plane’s Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System data, or ACARs for short. This is an onboard system that transmits messages between aircraft and ground stations.

Some ACARs data is publicly available on a website called AirFrames.io. By searching for the plane’s registration, we can see it’s currently giving its destination as “KFLL” – the airport code for Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida.

We still cannot yet confirm that the Tate brother are onboard, but we will share updates as they come in.

We've been reporting that authorities in Romania say the Tate brothers remain under "judicial control".

In Romania, judicial control is effectively an order for a defendant to comply with certain conditions if released during criminal proceedings.

Depending on the individual case, it can prevent the defendant from travelling to certain areas, taking part in certain activities, contacting specific individuals, or require them to regularly appear before authorities and submit to surveillance measures.

In the case of the Tate brothers, the BBC understands they will be expected to return to Romania at a later date to satisfy the terms of the continued "under judicial control" status.

Image source, EPA

Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate, who hold dual UK-US nationality, have left Romania having previously been barred from doing so because they are facing criminal charges.

Here's a round-up of what we know:

• The brothers departed Bucharest early this morning on a private jet, and a source has confirmed to the BBC that the aircraft carrying the pair is on its way to Florida
• Romanian authorities say they accepted a request from the Tate brothers to be able to leave the country, but insist the Tates are still under investigation in Romania and the case against them has not been dropped
• The two men remain under "judicial control", authorities say, meaning they have to comply with certain conditions, including returning to Romania, which the BBC understands could possibly be as early as the end of March
• The brothers were arrested in Romania three years ago and face trial on allegations of rape, trafficking minors and money laundering - all of which they deny
• It's not clear why the brothers have been allowed to leave Romania now, or if the US has played any role in their request to leave Romania being accepted
• Four women who allege they were sexually abused by Andrew Tate - accusations he denies - say they are in "disbelief and feel re-traumatised" by news of him leaving Romania

Thomas Mackintosh
Live reporter

Four British women who allege they were sexually abused by Andrew Tate say they are in "disbelief and feel re-traumatised" by news of him leaving Romania.

In a joint statement the four say: "It is clear that he will now not face criminal prosecution for his alleged crimes in Romania; he will use it as an opportunity to harass further and intimidate witnesses and his accusers, and he will continue to spread his violent, misogynistic doctrine around the world."

Lawyer Matthew Jury, who is representing the four alleged victims, told the BBC Donald Trump's administration is "interfering in due process" in Romania and the UK.

Andrew and his brother Tristan have always denied allegations. Romanian authorities have insisted this morning that the brothers remain under investigation and they are expected to return to the country at a later date.

A source has now confirmed to the BBC that the private jet carrying Andrew and Tristan Tate is on its way to Florida, and is due to arrive at some stage today.

Where are the Tate brothers now?published at 10:54 Greenwich Mean Time 27 February

10:54 GMT 27 February

By Josh Cheetham, Thomas Copeland and Victoria Park

We’re having a look at which plane the Tate brothers might be taking.

We've been looking on flight tracking websites like FlightRadar24 and ADS-B Exchange and since the early hours of this morning only one private jet has taken off from Romania and flown west over the Atlantic.

It’s a Gulfstream jet which left Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport just after 04:00 GMT. Public records show that it is owned by Woods Management LLC, which is based in Chicago.

Its current destination is unclear, and we can’t yet confirm the Tate brothers are onboard.

A Romanian journalist posted a photo of Tristan Tate boarding a plane which is very similar in appearance to the Gulfstream jet - a livery which has two grey stripes with a blue stripe in between. We can tell from reverse image searching that this photo is probably recent but we cannot otherwise verify it.

Nick Thorpe
Central Europe correspondent in Bucharest

Andrew and Tristan Tate flew out of Baneasa airport in Bucharest soon after 05:00 local time this morning on a private jet - the latest dramatic twist in a story which has made headlines around the world.

They were first arrested in December 2022, and face charges including rape, sex trafficking, and money laundering. They deny all the charges against them, and have said they want to clear their names in court.

The cases against them are now being rewritten by Romanian prosecutors, who allowed them to leave the country on condition that they return - possibly as early as the end of March.

Image source, Reuters

Tate - full name Emory Andrew Tate - was born in December 1986.

He is named after his father, an American who worked for the US Air Force in Britain, and who was also a chess master. His mother and father met in the UK before moving to America where Tate was raised until his parents divorced.

Following the divorce, Tate moved to Luton, England, with his mother - where the brothers have since said they experienced poverty.

Tate went on to become a four-time kickboxing world champion.

A self-proclaimed "misogynist" Andrew, he first rose to fame after an appearance on the British version of reality TV show Big Brother in 2016. He lasted six days on the programme, before being removed following the emergence of a video that appeared to show him attacking a woman.

He said at the time that the footage had been edited and was "a total lie trying to make me look bad".

He went on to find worldwide fame as an online influencer, flaunting an ultra-luxurious lifestyle of fast cars, private jets, and yachts, gaining millions of followers on social media, and with videos featuring or discussing him having been viewed billions of times.

Tate, 38, and his brother Tristan face a number of civic and criminal legal cases, but have denied wrongdoing.

• You can read a full profile of Andrew Tate here

As we've reported, sources have told the BBC that Andrew and Tristan Tate left Romania on a private jet bound for the United States from Bucharest earlier this morning.

We do know from Romanian authorities that they very much maintain "judicial control" and the case has not been dropped.

What has changed is the Tate brothers' request to be able to leave the country has been given the green light, but both will be expected to return to Romania.

We don't yet know where in the US the private jet is destined for, but we are monitoring where it might be heading. We are also waiting to hear from the Tate brothers themselves.

Why have they been allowed to leave Romania now? And what part did the US, if any, have to play?

These are some of the questions we're trying to answer, and we'll bring you more information as we get it.

Andrew Harding
Travelling to Bucharest

I’m heading to Bucharest to report on the sudden departure of Andrew and Tristan Tate from Romania.

They had been barred from leaving the country but that has changed, abruptly, and amid much speculation.

Tate has described himself as a "self-made multi-millionaire" and said he earned money through "a little webcam business from my apartment".

"I had 75 women working for me in four locations and I was doing $600,000 a month from webcam," he said in a podcast interview.

In a now-deleted page on his website, he said he brought women into the "adult entertainment industry".

"My job was to meet a girl, go on a few dates, sleep with her, test if she's quality, get her to fall in love with me to where she'd do anything I say and then get her on webcam so we could become rich together," he wrote on the page - which was subsequently taken down in February 2022.

Tate works alongside his brother, Tristan, who told the Daily Mirror that their business was "all a big scam" which saw men pay to talk to women online.

"I've seen men sell cars, TVs... This guy's gran passed away and they were waiting for the sale of the house. When the house was sold he'd get £20,000 and promised it to [a model], to pay for her fake financial problem," Tristan said.

Nick Thorpe
Central Europe correspondent in Bucharest

The Romanian special prosecutor's service, DIICOT, who is the investigating agency in the Tate case, has issued a statement on the departure of the Tate brothers this morning from Romania.

The DIICOT statement makes clear that the Tates are still under investigation in Romania, and the case against them has not been dropped.

What has changed is that their request to be able to leave Romania has been accepted.

Their request to drop the charges has been rejected. They will be expected to return to Romania at a later date (we understand that to be at the end of March) to satisfy the terms of their continued "under judicial control" status.

"Regarding two defendants, individuals with dual citizenship, American and British, who are under judicial control in the criminal cases being investigated by DIICOT – Central Structure, we make the following clarification: the request to revoke the preventive measure of judicial control has been rejected, and it remains in place in both cases where criminal prosecution is under way," the prosecutors say.

Nick Thorpe
Central Europe correspondent in Bucharest

Image source, Getty Images

I am standing outside the special prosecutor's office here in Bucharest and reliable sources tell me that Andrew and Tristan Tate flew out of the Baneasa airport - a small airport here - on a private jet bound for the USA at 05:00 local time (03:00 GMT).

This was made possible by the prosecutors and the office behind me returning their US passports.

But, I believe the two remain under investigation and that they have given an undertaking they will return to Romania at the end of March.

They are accused of crimes including trafficking and rape, very serious charges which they have denied. They have said in previous statements they want to clear their name in a Romanian court.

Once they touch down in the United States the Tates will portray this as a great victory, they have been under investigation for over two years and now they have managed to leave the country.