Barron Trump, the 19-year-old son of the US president, witnessed an alleged assault during a video call. He contacted British police, leading to rape and assault charges against a 22-year-old Russian national.
The extraordinary incident occurred in the early hours of January 18, 2025. Matvei Rumiantsev answered Trump's incoming video call on the alleged victim's phone during an altercation.
Jurors at Snaresbrook Crown Court heard Thursday that Trump saw a "shirtless man with darkish hair" for about one second. The camera then flipped to show a woman being hit while crying. The entire interaction lasted five to seven seconds, Trump wrote in an email to investigating police in May. He described what he witnessed as "very brief indeed but indeed prevalent".
Emergency response from the US
Trump immediately raised the alarm. "Oh I'm calling from the US, uh, I just got a call from a girl, you know, she's getting beat up", he told emergency services in a transcript released by the Crown Prosecution Service. The call grew tense when the operator pressed for details about his relationship with the alleged victim. "I mean these details don't matter, she's getting beat up", Trump responded, before apologizing for being rude.
Trump also asked two friends in the US to contact police. In his email to British police, he explained: "I didn't expect her to pick up due to the difference in the time zone to the fact I am in the USA, the phone was answered but not by her, to my dismay".
Rape and assault charges
Prosecutors charged Rumiantsev with two counts of rape. They allege one rape occurred between November 1 and 30, 2024, and another between January 17 and 18, 2025. Prosecutors also charged him with assault, actual bodily harm, intentional strangulation, and perverting the course of justice by allegedly pressuring the woman to withdraw her complaints. Police arrested him on the morning of January 18.
Prosecutors allege Rumiantsev strangled the woman that evening. The alleged victim called police after the alleged strangulation.
Defendant's account
Rumiantsev denies all charges. Giving evidence Thursday, he claimed he and the woman had been drinking together and had consensual sex twice. He said she was "in a stage of complete breakdown" and "She was just completely hysterical crying, screaming, shouting at me" before the video call.
"I noticed her phone next to me on the sofa and it was ringing with a Barron Trump face call", Rumiantsev testified. "I don't know what went through my head but I answered yes." He said he stepped away a couple of meters and immediately pointed the camera toward her. He added: "At that point I was standing up, I stepped away from her maybe for a couple metres... I answered the call and I immediately put the camera towards her. I don't know why I did that. Maybe I thought she would realise that her behaviour was unreasonable, that she wouldn't behave like this in front of someone else".
Rumiantsev, a receptionist with freestyle wrestling experience, denies ever strangling, hitting, or kicking the woman. He claims he only grabbed her arms on January 18 to prevent her from hitting him.
Background to the case
The alleged victim met Barron Trump on social media. Trump described himself in his email to police as "very close" with her. The alleged victim told him "this individual was giving her difficulty for a long time".
Rumiantsev became aware of the woman's friendship with Trump in October 2024. On November 3, 2024, the pair had a disagreement. "I started to explain that I felt upset as well about her talking to Barron Trump", Rumiantsev told the court Thursday. He compared his feelings to her reaction about his past messages with other girls.
The trial continues.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
