FIRST ON FOX: Former MMA fighter turned online influencer Andrew Tate says he plans to live in Florida despite the “hee haw” his return to U.S. soil kicked up as he seeks to fight sex trafficking and other charges in Romania and the United Kingdom.
“I’m going to live in America because I’ve done nothing wrong, and I’ve got an American passport,” Tate, 38, told Fox News Digital at the Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport Thursday. “My father served for this country, and I think there’s a whole bunch of media spin that’s going around that has people believing things that are not true.”
Tate, who has 10 million followers but a history of making controversial statements, and his 37-year-old brother, Tristan, have vehemently denied all allegations of wrongdoing and are suing at least one accuser who they allege fabricated her story. She filed a counter-suit last month claiming their defamation lawsuit is a form of witness intimidation.
ANDREW TATE, BROTHER TRISTAN RETURN TO US AFTER PROSECUTORS LIFT TRAVEL BAN IN TRAFFICKING CASE
(L-R) Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate speak to Fox News Digital from Miami-Opa Locka Executive airport in Miami, FL, Thursday, March 6, 2025. The brothers have been named the targets of a criminal investigation just days after returning to the United States amid ongoing legal troubles in Europe that include allegations of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. (MEGA for Fox News Digital)
“I have an open investigation in Romania, which I have to return to for my bail conditions, because I obey the law in every country,” Tate said at the airport. “I’ve never been convicted of anything, anywhere. I’m very surprised by this whole hee haw.”
It was not immediately clear where he would fly from Opa Locka. Before leaving, however, he confirmed that he planned to purchase a Florida penthouse and become a resident of the Sunshine State.
Tate and his brother took a private jet to Fort Lauderdale last week after Romanian authorities lifted a travel ban that had been part of their bail conditions there.
ANDREW TATE, BROTHER TRISTAN SUED FOR ALLEGEDLY SEX TRAFFICKING AMERICAN WOMAN TO FOREIGN COUNTRY
Andrew Tate, 38, and his brother Tristan Tate, 36, arrive into Fort Lauderdale International airport on Thursday, February 27, 2025. The pair returned to the United States after Romanian prosecutors agreed to lift travel restrictions imposed as part of a sex trafficking case there. (MiamiPIXX/VAEM/BACKGRID)
Gov. Ron DeSantis was quick to publicly announce that the brothers were not welcome in his state, and Attorney General James Uthmeier this week said that his office was seeking search warrants and subpoenas as part of an active criminal investigation.
The brothers are accused of luring women to Romania for sexual exploitation in a 2022 case in which prosecutors suffered a major setback after a judge found there were too many problems to bring it to trial. In a second criminal case opened in August 2024, they are also being investigated for allegedly trafficking underage girls.
It was not immediately clear what Florida investigators believe they did there.
In this grab taken from video released by Observator Antena 1, social media personality Andrew Tate is led away by police, in the Ilfov area, north of Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022. (Observator Antena 1 via AP)
“In Florida, this type of behavior is viewed as atrocious,” Uthmeier told a reporter at the Florida Capitol on Tuesday. “We’re not going to accept it.”
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Andrew Tate is expected to be extradited to the United Kingdom on separate charges following the conclusion of the Romanian cases.
The brothers are dual citizens of the U.S. and U.K., but were living in Romania.
