The Trump administration has pressured Romanian authorities to lift travel restrictions on the self-described misogynist influencer Andrew Tate, a champion of the US president who is facing criminal charges in Bucharest.

Andrew and his brother Tristan Tate, who are dual US and UK nationals, have become a cause célèbre in rightwing social media after having been arrested in Romania in 2022 and charged with human trafficking, sexual misconduct and money laundering, as well as starting an organised crime group. They have denied wrongdoing.

The Tates’ case was first brought up by US officials in a phone call with the Romanian government last week and then followed up by Trump’s special envoy Richard Grenell when he met the Romanian foreign minister at the Munich Security Conference, according to three people familiar with the matter.

A fourth person said a request was made to return the brothers’ passports and allow them to travel while they wait for court proceedings to conclude.

Romanian foreign minister Emil Hurezeanu declined to comment on his exchange with Grenell. His spokesperson said Hurezeanu initiated the meeting and that they had “known each other for a long time” as they had both served as ambassadors in Berlin during the first Trump presidency.

The spokesperson did not comment on their specific discussions but said: “Romanian courts are independent and operate based on the law, there is due process.”

Grenell said he had “no substantive conversation” with Hurezeanu, who “saw me in the hallway” in Munich and “asked for a meeting”. “I support the Tate brothers as evident by my publicly available tweets,” he added.

This month Grenell wrote on X that Romania was the “latest example” of how funds disbursed by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) had been “weaponised against people and politicians who weren’t woke”. The Trump administration has slashed USAID payments and attempted to fire many of its staff. Tristan Tate has called on supporters to find out “if any USAID went to Romania to fund any particular Lawfare base investigations” — in an apparent reference to his and his brother’s own cases.

The Tate brothers have millions of online followers in the “manosphere” — online platforms targeted at young men that promote male superiority and reject feminism — which played a role in Trump’s re-election. Tucker Carlson, a Trump ally and former Fox anchor, has carried out sympathetic interviews with both brothers, calling on viewers to “make up their own mind” about them.

Tristan Tate boasted on X in November about the brothers’ role in the US election, claiming that “millions of young men in Europe and the USA have a healthy rightwing approach to politics that they would NOT have if Andrew Tate had never appeared on their phone screens”. The UK is also seeking the brothers’ extradition after police in Bedfordshire obtained an arrest warrant as part of an investigation into allegations of rape and human trafficking. A Romanian court ruled last year that they can be extradited once there is a final decision in their case in Romania. A separate civil lawsuit was filed last week by a woman in Florida, which alleged that the brothers coerced her into sex work after having lured her to Romania and accused them of defaming her after she testified against them in Bucharest.

The pair have recently secured a legal victory in Romania, after an appeals court sent their case back to a lower court. They were also released from house arrest, but are not allowed to leave the country.

“The Tate brothers remain fully dedicated to working alongside their legal team to explore every legal avenue available within the framework of Romania’s judicial system,” the brothers said in a written statement.

“Their sole focus is on ensuring that due process is followed and that their innocence is established in a court of law.”

US vice-president JD Vance last week lashed out at Romanian authorities for annulling a presidential election, as an example of an alleged crackdown on rightwing politicians threatening Europe’s democracy “from within”. The country’s constitutional court in December said it took the unprecedented step because the electoral process had been “flawed” by a highly sophisticated social media campaign suspected of having been co-ordinated by Moscow. Vance said the vote cancellation was based on “flimsy suspicions of an intelligence agency and enormous pressure from its continental neighbours”.

The US vice-president’s criticism was seen as vindication by the far-right candidate who topped the cancelled vote, Călin Georgescu, who plans to run again in a May rerun. His campaign chief’s home was raided by police last week after Georgescu declared having spent zero money on his election campaign. If criminal proceedings are brought against him, the constitutional court could dismiss his bid for the presidency. Georgescu was interviewed on Sunday by another “manosphere” influencer, Mario Nawfal, who described him on X as “Romania’s rightful president” who risked being barred from running. “The EXACT playbook they tried against Trump,” he added.