Man jailed for assaulting woman during her video call with Barron Trump

A Russian man has been sentenced to four years in prison for attacking a woman in an attack witnessed by Donald Trump’s youngest son Barron in a video call.

Matvei Rumiantsev drunkenly beat the victim when he became jealous of her burgeoning friendship with 19-year-old Trump after they met through social media.

During the attack, the 23-year-old man answered Mr. Trump’s FaceTime call on his phone and turned the camera around to show him crying on the floor.

The US president’s son called the City of London Police on 999 on January 18 last year, asking for help for the woman and telling the operator: “This is a real emergency.

“I’m calling from the USA, I just got a call from a girl, you know she’s getting beaten.”

The woman, who was subjected to violence that lasted for an hour, called 999 and told the operator: “Please help me, I will be killed.”

Evidence showed Rumiantsev, described as a “trained warrior”, repeatedly hit the woman over the course of an hour and dragged her by her hair as she tried to call for help.

Following his arrest, Rumiantsev made “repeated efforts” to evade justice by persuading the woman to retract her allegations with a phone call from the police station and a letter to a friend while he was in prison.

Rumiantsev, of Canary Wharf, east London, was convicted at the hearing of assault and perverting the course of justice over a letter he sent from prison in which he tried to persuade the woman to withdraw her allegations.

At Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday, Rumiantsev was sentenced to four years in prison by His Honor Judge Bennathan; The trial was told that he was “a man prone to jealousy and angry.”

The judge also criticized Rumiantsev for his “complete lack of remorse” and failure to accept responsibility for the attack.

“Your lack of insight and empathy was clearly demonstrated at the hearing. You continue to blame the complainant for everything that happened.”

Pointing to a letter from Rumiantsev saying his actions that night were “inappropriate”, he told her: “This is a long way from facing the simple truth about what happened that night.”

The jury acquitted him of charges of rape, assault and intentional strangulation.

The court heard 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, who came from a wealthy family and was trained in martial arts, attacked the woman that day and even hit her in the face.

When he answered Mr. Trump’s FaceTime call during the beating, he turned the screen to the woman crying and screaming on the ground.

Mr. Trump was initially coy about how he knew the woman in his phone call with police, and when asked, replied: “So those details don’t matter, she’s being beaten.”

“I met him on social media,” said Mr. Trump, who was scolded by the operator for being “rude” and not answering questions.

The court heard Rumiantsev became aware of the woman’s friendship with Trump in October 2024 and described himself as “jealous to some extent” during questioning at the hearing.

He added: “What I was really unhappy about was that he (Barron Trump) was clearly leading her on.”

In a victim impact statement, the woman who was attacked said she “completely withdrew from the world” and felt “humiliated, frightened and ashamed” afterwards.

He added that he lived with “constant terror and uncertainty regarding the release of the defendant.”

Mr Trump was a key witness in the case and sent an email to police last May describing his “very brief” view of how the attack unfolded.

“I wasn’t expecting him to pick up the phone due to the time zone difference being in the US, the phone was not answered by him, much to my dismay,” he wrote.

“The person who answered the phone was a shirtless, dark-haired man. Even though I couldn’t see clearly, this image lasted maybe a second and I was racing with adrenaline.

“The camera then panned to footage of the victim being shot while crying and saying something in Russian. The man had hung up the phone. This entire interaction lasted five to seven seconds.”

The victim of the attack said she believed Rumiantsev deliberately answered her FaceTime call and showed her crying and screaming on the floor as a form of punishment.

Prosecutor Serena Gates KC said: “He believes the phone call was answered and the attack was captured on video because the defendant wanted to listen to him.”

The judge praised Trump’s actions, saying he alerted emergency services “correctly and responsibly” even though Trump was in the United States.

Mr Trump grew up in the public eye as the only child of Donald and Melania Trump and was rumored to be helping his father with his election strategy in 2024.

His older brother, Eric Trump, said in November 2024 that Barron persuaded his father to go on a podcast tour as part of his efforts to woo Gen Z and Millennial voters.