Trumpworld Has Found Its New Jeffrey Epstein

Jurisprudence Trumpworld. Photo illustration by Slate. Photos by Davidoff Studios/Getty Images, Richard Heathcote/Getty Images, and Daniel Mihailescu/AFP via Getty Images. Sign up for Executive Dysfunction, a weekly newsletter that highlights one under-the-radar story about how Trump is changing the law—or how the law is pushing back—and keeps you posted on the latest from Slate’s Jurisprudence team. The specter of Jeffrey Epstein continues to haunt the Trump administration seven years after the sexual predator’s death. But the makings of the next Epstein-style scandal—one that ultimately could be even more damaging for Trump and MAGAworld—appears to be unfolding right now. The Tate brothers, Andrew and Tristan, are alleged to be sex predators on a level approaching Epstein and with perhaps even more political clout with Donald Trump. For those who are blessedly unfamiliar with the Tates, they are highly popular “manosphere” influencers who have garnered an international following, particularly among young men, for their particular brand of content focused on their prideful misogyny and flashing of their apparent wealth. They are also accused of running a decadelong international sex-trafficking ring, with credible allegations against them in multiple countries from dozens of accusers involving gruesome acts of sexual violence, abuse, and exploitation against women and minors. And they have many connections to the world’s top political elite, including Donald Trump’s family members and close advisers. Sound familiar? Just like Epstein, the Tates have seemingly leveraged these connections to receive favorable treatment and avoid the full extent of justice. After years of investigations and attempted prosecutions, the Tates find themselves in the crosshairs yet again. In July, they were charged in Britain on rape charges that also included allegations of possession of child sexual abuse imagery—and are currently sitting in a jail in Miami, fighting extradition. And earlier this month, Romanian prosecutors indicted Andrew for trafficking minors, money laundering, sex with a minor, and witness tampering, and Tristan with complicity. But, in a few important ways, the involvement of Trump’s administration and allies with the Tates could be even more egregious than the Epstein controversy. While the Epstein scandal has centered on holding bad actors accountable for past actions and current cover-ups, the Tate brothers’ scandal is a live issue, and there is reason to believe that if the Trump administration buckles in their favor, the brothers could go back to their criminal activities. Unlike Epstein, who generally lurked in the shadows of elite circles, the Tates brazenly and publicly broadcast their depraved behavior for years. The Tates established their popularity by building online and porn businesses, and becoming internet sensations through their aggressive and controversial misogynistic opinions. Indicia of their alleged criminality have been publicly available for years, including Andrew attacking a woman on camera in 2016. In the process, they lured in young women and allegedly sexually abused and raped them. The victims allegedly include minors. Accusations and law enforcement investigations of rape and strangulation have been swirling around the Tates since at least 2015, when they relocated from the U.K. to Romania to escape possible arrest. Rape allegations persisted in the subsequent years, as the Tates continued to grow their online following. In 2023, the Tates and several co-conspirators were formally charged by Romanian authorities, with allegations from about 35 alleged victims, including minors. The Tate brothers were barred from leaving Romania while the prosecution continued, having been labeled flight risks and public dangers. (The Tate brothers deny all allegations of criminal conduct.) Despite this, their following grew. And, just as Epstein used his wealth and social status to develop political relationships, the Tate brothers’ rise in popularity has come with an increase in political influence, which they have eagerly flaunted. The connections between the Tates and Trumpworld multiplied over time, even as accusations against them piled up. They developed a relationship with the president’s youngest son, Barron, who encouraged his father to engage with the manosphere podcasts and ecosystem. They were personally in touch with Donald Trump Jr., who livestreamed with Andrew in 2024 and called the Tates’ Romanian detention in 2023 “absolute insanity.” (The White House has not responded to questions about Barron’s relationship with the Tates.) After the 2024 election, shows of support from top Trump advisers became even louder. Vice President–elect J.D. Vance followed the Tates on X; right before Trump’s inauguration, incoming counselor to the president Alina Habba said she was a “big fan” of the Tates, compared their legal issues to Trump’s, and told Andrew, “If you’re in the States, I got your back.” After Trump took office, one of the Tates’ former lawyers, Paul Ingrassia, became the White House’s liaison to the Justice Department and then the Department of Homeland Security. These connections appeared to pay off almost immediately after Trump’s inauguration. In February 2025, Richard Grenell, the Trump administration’s special envoy, attended the Munich Security Conference with Vice President Vance and seemed to push for the Tates’ release. Vance’s speech to the conference, in part, echoed right-wing critiques of a recent Romanian judicial decision. Meanwhile, Grenell, after being lobbied by the Tates’ PR team to help the brothers, held a side meeting with Romanian officials at the conference in which he reportedly asked how “the Tate boys” were doing. The New Yorker reported that it seemed clear to the Romanian foreign minister that the Americans were supporting the Tates because the Tates backed Trump in 2024, and that the Tates were “playing a role within the bilateral relations” between the two countries. (The White House denied this, and Grenell denied helping the Tates, but has publicly stated: “I support the Tate brothers.”) Nevertheless, Grenell’s and Vance’s behavior appears to have been interpreted as subtle but clear pressure from the Trump administration to release the Tates. Which is precisely what happened days later. Romania lifted the travel restrictions, in the face of fierce opposition by prosecutors, and the brothers gallivanted to meet their MAGA friends in the United States. When they arrived in Miami, Trump’s oldest living political svengali Roger Stone posted a picture with them and wrote: “Richard Grenell secured the release of the Tates.” According to the New Yorker, Andrew “denied that Donald Trump had personally intervened, but said he had learned from powerful people in Bucharest that the restrictions were removed because of American pressure.” With the Tates now finding themselves in law enforcement’s dragnet yet again, the parallels with Epstein are striking. Although the Department of Justice arrested the Tates in July 2026, assisting the U.K.’s extradition efforts under the new criminal charges, and the White House said they wouldn’t get involved in the matter, the brothers are continuing to try to use their influence to pressure the Trump administration. Following the arrest, the Tates’ lawyer said: “Andrew Tate was a material participant in ensuring President Trump’s victory. And if Trump doesn’t support him, and if the next people who are going to be running for office potentially are just like, yeah, down the river he goes, that young cohort of people will break with the Republican Party in the next election.” As the Epstein scandal has taught us, the fact that Trump’s DOJ arrested the Tates does not lessen the severity of what has already transpired, or the risks going forward. The last time the Tates wriggled away from custody and came to the U.S., a woman in California accused Andrew of choking her and battering her head and face; after their encounter, she was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome. L.A. prosecutors did not ultimately bring charges but she is pursuing a lawsuit against him, including as evidence her medical report and texts in which he threatened to beat her. The same dynamic transpired with Epstein two decades ago: He, too, was arrested and charged but continued to put significant pressure on the government and ultimately received a sweetheart deal. He then went back to his life of luxury and sex crimes. We’ve already seen the Trump administration take aggressive steps to help supporters who have been charged with crimes and convicted, so his administration’s possible involvement in the Tate brothers’ story isn’t necessarily over. The Tates are continuing to challenge their extradition, and ultimately, once they exhaust their legal options, whether they are extradited to face their charges or not would ultimately be up to the Trump administration. The scope of Epstein’s criminal behavior, and the full extent of his social network, was largely ignored while he was at large. Today, the Tates and the apparent depths of their interlocking connections to people around Trump have broadly fallen under the radar of mainstream media coverage. But for younger Americans they are totemic figures in this political and cultural moment, and their influence is particularly pernicious. That’s why there must be full transparency and congressional investigations to unravel what has already happened and expose the full extent of their relationship with Trumpworld, and also to uncover what, if any, efforts are continuing to be made now by their allies to pressure the Trump administration as the Tates continue to face charges in the United Kingdom and Romania. As a member of the legal team representing the victims of Jeffrey Epstein in litigation, I can attest that the struggle to achieve justice after his death has been righteous but hard. The Tates must be held accountable for their actions and neither favor nor fame can be allowed to shield them. The Epstein scandal and what happened to his victims is heinous; the Trump administration had begun to repeat that miscarriage of justice. Hopefully, they won’t be allowed to continue. Crime Department of Justice Donald Trump Jurisprudence Sexual Assault United Kingdom Judiciary Jeffrey Epstein