UK court convicts man over attack on Barron Trump’s friend
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Mr Barron Trump called the British police from the US on Jan 18, 2025, after he accidentally witnessed the assault during a video call with the victim.
PHOTO: REUTERS
LONDON – A Russian man who became jealous of a woman’s friendship with the youngest son of US President Donald Trump was on Jan 28 found guilty of assaulting her by a London court.
Matvei Rumiantsev, 22, was convicted by a jury of the 2025 assault, which had been accidentally witnessed by Mr Barron Trump during a video call with the woman.
Rumiantsev was found guilty of assault causing actual bodily harm in January 2025 and perverting the course of justice, but acquitted of two separate charges of rape, as well as another assault charge from November 2024.
Mr Barron Trump’s surprise involvement in the criminal case at a court north-east of London attracted media attention when details were outlined for jurors.
Mr Trump – the only son of the US President and First Lady Melania Trump – called British police from the United States on Jan 18, 2025, reporting that he had witnessed the assault during a video call with the woman whom he said he was “very close with”.
The woman cannot be identified for legal reasons.
Prosecutors told the trial that Rumiantsev was jealous of her friendship with the US President’s son.
In a transcript shown to the court, Mr Barron Trump told the London police operator: “I just got a call from a girl” who is “getting beat up”.
“She’s getting really badly beat up and the call was about eight minutes ago, I don’t know what could have happened by now,” he added.
Mr Trump said in a later e-mail to the investigating police that he had not expected the woman to answer his call due to the time difference with the US.
But “to my dismay”, it was answered by “a shirtless man”.
“The camera was then flipped to the victim getting hit while crying, stating something in Russian. The guy had hung up,” Mr Trump wrote.
During the call, Mr Trump would not initially tell the operator how he knew the woman, but after being admonished for being “rude”, he eventually explained that he had “met her on social media”.
The woman told jurors that his intervention “helped save my life”, the Metro daily reported.
Rumiantsev will be sentenced on March 27. AFP
