The Tangled Tale of the Tate Brothers and the Trumps

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**Michael Barbaro** (0:30)
From The New York Times, I'm Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. Over the past decade, the Tate Brothers have built a global empire around pornography, hypermasculinity and overt misogyny, even as they were repeatedly accused of assaulting and trafficking women. Today, a Times investigation has found that as their legal troubles mounted, the Tates found powerful allies in the Trump family and the Trump administration. My colleague, Megan Twohey, explains just how important those alliances became and why they're now starting to unravel.
It's Monday, August 3rd. Megan, welcome back to The Daily.

**Megan Twohey** (1:37)
Happy to be here.

**Michael Barbaro** (1:39)
So, about two weeks ago, there was this pretty remarkable scene that played out in Miami, Florida, involving the Tate Brothers, who you have been reporting on now for many months. Just describe that scene to us.

**Megan Twohey** (1:55)
So, on July 18th, Andrew and Tristan Tate, who are these massively famous figures around the world with a huge online following in the Manosphere, they arrive at this bare-knuckle boxing match that Andrew is actually scheduled to co-host.

**Michael Barbaro** (2:18)
Which is very Manosphere adjacent.

**Megan Twohey** (2:20)
Yes, exactly. This is like classic Tates. Andrew is dressed in a tight-fitting purple shirt, with the buttons open and these chains around his neck. Tristan is in this three-piece suit and hat, but as soon as they get out of their car, US. Marshals show up. Come over here by me.
And the brothers are handcuffed and arrested in front of their entourage. And you could tell that the brothers were really surprised, and so were we.

**Michael Barbaro** (2:57)
And why? Why? Were they surprised? Why, especially, were you surprised?

**Megan Twohey** (3:00)
Well, US. Marshals are part of the US. Justice Department. This was a federal action, which means that it was done with the sign-off of the Trump administration.
And that's surprising because, you know, the Tates have actually had legal troubles in multiple countries prior to this. They've also had some really powerful defenders here in the United States. That's what my reporting partner Isabella Kwai and I have been actually digging into over the past, like, year and a half. How the Tates developed deep connections to the Trump White House, the Trump family, and other players in the conservative MAGA world. So this very public arrest that's carried out by the Trump administration really seems like a significant turning point for the Tates.

**Michael Barbaro** (3:57)
Right. You and Isabella have become true experts on the Tates, their rise, our immense influence, all their legal troubles, and the role that the Trump administration ends up playing in all of that. So, Megan, tell us the story of how it came to be that the Tates formed a kind of alliance with Trump world and how we get to this point where the president of those around him may be turning their backs on the Tates, which I think means telling the larger story of the Tates themselves, which I know at times involves some graphic and painful details.

**Megan Twohey** (4:35)
It does, yeah.
So, the story of the Tates, I would say is primarily the story of Andrew Tate, who has been the much more prominent figure of the two, although they've worked hand in hand for years. And listen, they have enjoyed telling the story of who they are, where they came from, and how they came to have this huge success.

**Andrew Tate** (5:00)
Okay, so yeah, I am half English, half American. My father was in the Air Force. He was based in the UK. He met my mother.
They were fortunate enough to have this perfect child, you see in front of you.

**Megan Twohey** (5:10)
So, they are born in the United States to an English mother and an American father.

**Andrew Tate** (5:17)
I guess I was raised in a hyper, I call it hyper traditional. The modern world will call it misogynistic household. My father was in charge. It was his household.

**Megan Twohey** (5:26)
The parents had a troubled marriage and eventually, they split up and the Tate Brothers relocated to England with their mother.

**Andrew Tate** (5:34)