Hours after Andrew and Tristan Tate were picked up by federal agents in Miami, their camp tried to get longtime ally Alina Habba on the phone—and got nothing back. The Trump-world lawyer, who told Andrew Tate on a January 2025 podcast, "I got your back over here," has gone radio silent, a shift that's emblematic of how the brothers' ties to the president's circle are fraying as their legal peril escalates, per the New York Times. Britain is seeking their extradition on 38 charges, including rape and sex trafficking. The Tates deny all allegations and say the case is political.
The extradition request now runs straight through the Trump administration: US prosecutors are arguing Britain's case in a Miami court, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will ultimately decide whether to hand the brothers over if a judge signs off. The White House says President Trump has no plans to insert himself into the process, and figures once happy to associate with the Tates—including Habba, former legal ally and current GSA counsel Paul Ingrassia, and Donald Trump Jr.—have either distanced themselves or stayed silent.
A smaller group, including GOP Rep. Abe Hamadeh and pundit Tucker Carlson, is still publicly backing the brothers and casting the prosecution as politically motivated. "They've never done nothing wrong," their lawyer, Joseph McBride, said Monday after a brief hearing, per the AP. "They shouldn't be extradited for crimes they did not commit."
Meanwhile, Democratic Rep. Yassamin Ansari wants the president's youngest son, 20-year-old Barron Trump, who's rumored to have been friendly with the Tates, to testify in front of Congress about whether he'd ever gotten wind of or "had any involvement whatsoever" in the Tates' crimes, per the Independent. Newsweek has more on the Tates' connections to other members in Trump world.
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