A London court heard testimony that Barron Trump, the youngest son of President Donald Trump, called UK emergency services after witnessing a woman being attacked during a FaceTime call. The dramatic 999 call was played at Snaresbrook Crown Court as part of a trial involving multiple serious charges.
Matvei Rumiantsev, a 22-year-old Russian citizen from east London, faces two counts of rape, assault, actual bodily harm, intentional strangulation, and perverting the course of justice. The defendant denies all charges against him.
The incident occurred on January 18, 2025, when Trump, 19 years old, was on a video call with a woman he had met on social media. According to evidence presented in court, Rumiantsev answered the FaceTime call from Trump during an argument. The call lasted 10 to 15 seconds.
Trump contacted emergency services at 2:23 a.m. local time. A recording of the 999 call was played during the trial proceedings. In the call, Trump told the operator that a woman was getting beaten up. When the operator asked how he knew her, Trump explained he had met her on social media. Trump appeared frustrated while answering more questions, saying that it was an emergency, but was told, “Can you stop being rude and actually answer my questions,” according to court testimony. Trump apologized for being rude and continued providing information to help dispatch assistance.
UK police responded to the scene in Poplar, East London. Bodycam footage shown in court documented the police response to the incident. The footage and 999 call recording form part of the evidence being considered in the ongoing trial.
The woman told police that Trump saved her life. “That call was like a sign from God at that moment,” she said, according to testimony presented during the proceedings.
Prosecutors presented evidence suggesting Rumiantsev was jealous of the woman’s friendship with Trump. The defendant allegedly became angry about the relationship between the woman and the president’s son.
The trial, which took place on January 20, 21 and 22, 2026, included testimony about two alleged rapes. One alleged rape occurred in November 2024, while a second alleged rape took place hours before the attack that Trump witnessed. The woman had met Trump on social media before the incidents.
Under cross-examination on January 23, 2026, Rumiantsev testified before Mr. Justice Bennathan KC. The defendant was questioned by prosecutor Serena Gates about his reaction to the incoming FaceTime call.
The defendant denied being angry about the call from Trump, though he acknowledged some level of jealousy about the friendship. The former MMA fighter testified about his relationship with the woman and the events of that night.
The defense, represented by barrister Sasha Wass KC, called the woman’s account a complete fabrication. The defense challenged various aspects of the prosecution’s case during the cross-examination of witnesses and the defendant’s testimony.
The charge of perverting the course of justice relates to allegations that Rumiantsev pressured the woman to withdraw her complaints.
The case has drawn international attention due to the involvement of the president’s son, who was in the United States at the time of the incident. The timing of international calls and emergency response protocols played a role in how quickly UK police were able to reach the location in East London.
Video calling technology like FaceTime has increasingly become relevant in criminal cases, both as evidence and as a means of reporting crimes in progress. The UK’s 999 emergency system is designed to handle calls from anywhere in the world, though international calls can present unique challenges for dispatchers who must quickly verify information and coordinate responses across time zones.
Emergency operators in the UK are trained to gather essential information quickly while managing callers who may be distressed, unfamiliar with local geography, or calling from outside the country. The exchange between Trump and the operator demonstrated some of these challenges, as the operator needed to establish the caller’s relationship to the victim and verify the address despite the urgency conveyed by the caller.
The trial continues as prosecutors and defense attorneys present their cases before the jury. The court in East London is considering multiple serious charges, each carrying potentially significant sentences under UK law.
Actual bodily harm, one of the charges Rumiantsev faces, is defined under UK law as physical injury that goes beyond minor harm but does not constitute grievous bodily harm. The charge of intentional strangulation, added to UK law in recent years, specifically addresses non-fatal strangulation offenses that previously fell under assault charges.
The rape charges carry among the most serious potential sentences in the UK criminal justice system. Prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the alleged offenses occurred as described, while the defense maintains that the accusations are fabricated.
Rumiantsev’s background as a former MMA fighter was mentioned during the proceedings, though the relevance of this information to the charges has not been fully detailed in court testimony. Mixed martial arts training can be relevant in assault cases when questions of physical capability or fighting techniques arise.
The trial proceedings have included careful consideration of bodycam footage, emergency call recordings and witness testimony. UK courts place significant weight on contemporaneous evidence—information recorded or documented at or near the time of alleged events—when evaluating competing accounts of what occurred.
As of January 27, 2026, the trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court remains ongoing with no verdict yet announced. In closing arguments delivered Monday, January 26, presiding judge Mr. Justice Bennathan KC instructed jurors to treat Barron Trump’s account with caution, noting that the president’s son had not given evidence under oath or been cross-examined. The judge warned that Trump’s perception “could be biased because he was close friends with” the alleged victim and that he may have “jumped to this conclusion on the basis of her screams” without getting a clear view of what occurred. Defense barrister Sasha Wass KC described Trump as a “wholly unreliable witness,” while prosecutor Serena Gates urged jurors to note Trump’s “urgent” and “worried” tone during the emergency call.
The judge reminded jurors that hearsay evidence should be considered carefully and that they “should not convict the defendant mainly in reliance on it.” Rumiantsev, who has denied all charges, including two counts of rape, assault, actual bodily harm, intentional strangulation, and perverting the course of justice, testified that he believed the alleged victim was “frankly leading on” Barron Trump.
