Donald Trump Reportedly Scolded Kash Patel For His Viral Drunken Video At The Olympics
There have been a number of commentators and celebrities who have publicly slammed FBI Director Kash Patel, but Donald Trump still had his back. Now, that might be changing. Apparently, Trump was none too pleased by the podcaster's antics at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Patel was caught on film chugging a beer and spraying it on the members of the U.S. men's Olympic hockey team after their gold medal win against Canada. While this would be potentially reasonable behavior from someone who was actually connected in some way to the team (or a Make-A-Wish kid), in Patel's case, he's just a hockey fan who had taken a private FBI jet to Milan to see the game.
A source sent me this video of FBI Director Kash Patel partying with the US Men's Olympic Hockey team. pic.twitter.com/egjmdhOAF6
— William Turton (@WilliamTurton) February 22, 2026
The defense from the FBI that Patel was there on official business was dismissed by people with eyeballs, including Trump himself. The president apparently told off Patel for his behavior — both the boozy locker room stunt and using a private jet. This isn't the first time that Patel's attention-seeking behavior has gotten him reprimanded behind the scenes.
In public, however, Trump has so far supported Patel. It will be interesting to see if Patel's behavior changes after this apparent reprimand from Trump, or if there becomes a tipping point where the FBI director's actions prove to be untenable, even for Trump. With Trump's poll numbers so low, he can't have members of his administration drawing so much negative attention.
Kash Patel's jet use has continued to be criticized as hypocritical
The director of the FBI is unable to use a commercial airplane because of security concerns; however, they are expected to reimburse the government for the cost of personal trips. It's unclear whether Kash Patel has done so. He and other directors before him have been called out for their use of private jets on what appears to be unofficial business.
Patel succeeded Christopher Wray, whom Donald Trump nominated in 2017. On a December 2023 episode of Glenn Beck's podcast, Patel himself said: "Chris Wray doesn't need a government-funded G-5 jet to go to vacation. Maybe we ground that plane — $15,000 every time it takes off." With that level of displeasure over personal trips by an FBI Director, people are surprised that Patel doesn't see any issue with him taking a plane to see performances from Alexis Wilkins, Patel's much younger girlfriend.
Patel did say on Katie Miller's podcast that he "paid for personal travel," though he hasn't yet given any receipts for reimbursements to the government or payments made for his trip to the Olympics. The director's plane usage may even be under investigation at some point. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois wrote a letter to the Government Accountability Office saying that Patel's use of the jets delayed the FBI response to a couple of different tragedies, including the shooting of Charlie Kirk.