Man guilty of assault after Barron Trump tells UK police he saw woman attacked
The son of the US president saw his friend being attacked by Matvei Rumiantsev in London on January 18 last year, Snaresbrook Crown Court was told.
A Russian man who was “jealous” of a woman’s messages to Barron Trump has been found guilty of assaulting her after Donald Trump’s youngest son told UK police he witnessed the attack during a video call.
Barron Trump, 19, saw his friend being attacked by Matvei Rumiantsev in London on January 18 last year, a trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court was told.
The US president’s son told a City of London Police operator: “I just got a call from a girl… she’s getting beat up,” the court heard.
Prosecutors said that Rumiantsev was jealous of her friendship with Mr Trump.
The 22-year-old, who lived in Canary Wharf, east London, was convicted on Wednesday of assault occasioning actual bodily harm between January 17 and 18 and perverting the course of justice.
He was found not guilty of one count of rape and intentional strangulation relating to the same date when Mr Trump made his report to police and another count of rape and assault alleged to have occurred in November 2024.
In a transcript of the call he made to the emergency services, Mr Trump said: “Oh I’m calling from the US, uh I just got a call from a girl, you know, she’s getting beat up”, the court heard.
Mr Trump replied to investigating police in May in an email which said “what I saw was very brief indeed but indeed prevalent”, jurors were told.
It continued: “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.
“The individual who picked up the phone was a shirtless man with darkish hair, although I didn’t get a good look, this view lasted maybe one second and I was racing with adrenaline.
“The camera was then flipped to the victim getting hit while crying, stating something in Russian. The guy had hung up. This whole interaction had lasted 5 to 7 seconds.”
Mr Trump grew up in the public eye as the only child of Donald and Melania Trump and was rumoured to be helping his father with his election strategy in 2024.
His older brother Eric Trump told the Press Association in November 2024 that Barron persuaded his father to go on a podcast tour as part of efforts to court Gen Z and millennial voters.
The US president appeared on several podcasts popular among young people, including The Joe Rogan Experience – the biggest podcast in the world – as well as podcasts with internet personalities Theo Von, Logan Paul and Adin Ross.
Prosecutor Serena Gates said that Rumiantsev was jealous of the woman’s friendship with Mr Trump, perhaps because of his “public profile”.
She told jurors to note Mr Trump’s “urgent” and “worried” tone in the call to police.
The court had heard that Rumiantsev and the woman had been drinking together on the evening of January 17 2025 and into the early hours of the next day.
The prosecution said that Rumiantsev assaulted the woman that day, including hitting her in the face as he later beat her.
Rumiantsev, who the court heard has experience in martial arts, had denied this.
The defendant answered her phone during the beating to a FaceTime call from Mr Trump and turned the screen to the woman who was crying and screaming on the floor, the court heard.
He became aware of the woman’s friendship with Mr Trump in October 2024, jurors were told.
On Friday, under cross-examination, Rumiantsev was asked if he was jealous of males that the woman might speak to.
He said: “What I was really unhappy about was that she was frankly leading him (Barron Trump) on.”
Mr Justice Bennathan KC told Rumiantsev the trial is about whether “you attacked her or not”.
Rumiantsev responded, telling the court: “I am being portrayed as a jealous person who can lose his temper due to jealousy.
“I want to just make clear that her actions towards him was wrong and it was not fair.”
He added: “I was jealous to some extent.”
The perverting the course of justice charged relates to a letter written to the woman by Rumiantsev from prison after the January 18 attack, asking her to withdraw her allegations.
Rumiantsev will be sentenced at the same court on March 27.
