A Russian man accused of rape has denied “being controlling” but told jurors he was upset by the woman’s sending messages to Donald Trump’s youngest son.
Matvei Rumiantsev, 22, is on trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court in London, accused of assault and two counts of rape, among other charges, against the alleged victim, who jurors have heard is friends with Barron Trump.
The defendant said he later regretted his behaviour but denies all six charges.
Giving evidence on Thursday, Mr Rumiantsev said he became aware of the woman’s friendship with Mr Trump, 19, while on a holiday in October 2024.
The Russian citizen, who lives in London, told the court: “She [the alleged victim] came up to me in the hotel room and she asked me to take a picture of her phone on which there was a chat with Barron Trump.
“The kind of chat they had didn’t allow her to take a screenshot so she came up to me and asked me to take a photograph with the phone.”
Jurors heard that on 3 November 2024, Mr Rumiantsev and the alleged victim had an argument at her flat, and Mr Rumiantsev left the apartment after damaging her air fryer and dropping her kettle.
He said that after he left, he received phone calls and text messages from the alleged victim, which made him concerned for her welfare, so he called the police.
Jurors have heard that after police arrived, in body-worn footage the woman can be heard apparently telling officers: “It was like jealousy, controlling of like who I can be friends with.”
Asked by his barrister, Sasha Wass KC, whether this was about the US president’s son, the defendant said that it was.
Mr Rumiantsev, who wore a blue suit and white shirt in the witness box, told jurors that earlier that evening, the alleged victim had brought Mr Trump up and started showing him her messages with the 19-year-old.
“I started to explain that I felt upset as well about her talking to Barron Trump,” he said.
“I was in no way controlling but I was trying to make her know that if she feels unwell seeing messages I had with girls 10 years ago, she could maybe understand how I felt when she was sat there this moment texting someone else.”
The court heard that later that day, Mr Rumiantsev sent the alleged victim a text in Russian, translated into English, which said: “I honestly cannot believe what a f*** up I caused.
“This is just f***ing nuts.
“I behaved like an arsehole. I’m very ashamed that I grabbed your phone, you started calling him sweetheart. I felt so unwell.”
Asked who “him” was, Mr Rumiantsev said “Barron Trump”.
Jurors heard Mr Rumiantsev and the woman had been drinking together on the evening of 17 January 2025 and into the early hours of the next day.
Mr Rumiantsev said they had consensual sex twice during that time.
Giving evidence on Thursday, the defendant told jurors that before he answered a call from the US president’s son on the alleged victim’s phone, the woman had been “in a stage of complete breakdown”, partly because she had been drinking.
“She was just completely hysterical crying, screaming, shouting at me,” said Mr Rumiantsev, who wore a blue suit and white shirt in the dock.
“I noticed her phone next to me on the sofa and it was ringing with a Barron Trump face call,” the defendant told the court.
“I don’t know what went through my head but I answered yes.
“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.”
Mr Rumiantsev denies assault, actual bodily harm, intentional strangulation, perverting the course of justice and two counts of rape, in charges dating between 1 November 2024 and 23 January 2025.
The trial continues.
