Kash Patel called to White House on heels of continued questions over his behavior
“FBI Director Kash Patel canceled a trip to Chicago to see his girlfriend perform at a music festival after being summoned to the White House. This comes amid criticism of Patel’s use of FBI resources, including the director’s jet, for personal trips. The White House cited unrelated meetings for Patel’s presence, while Patel’s office stated he complied with federal travel rules.
The embattled FBI director was set to travel to Chicago in the Bureau's jet to see his girlfriend perform at a music festival when he was called in, sources tell MS NOW.
FBI Director Kash Patel abruptly cancelled a planned flight Friday to see his girlfriend in Chicago this weekend, after top administration officials frustrated with Patel summoned him to the White House, according to two people with knowledge of the change.
The precise reasons that Patel’s political bosses demanded he cancel his trip and report to the West Wing are unclear, but several people said top Trump deputies were disturbed by a range of actions by Patel. Some found it confounding that the FBI director was leaving town amid the recent revival of the war with Iran and alleged threats against the president’s life, according to a person familiar with efforts to help Patel rebuild trust with the White House. For this article, people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive internal matter.
Others cited two unforced errors by Patel that created bad optics for the Trump administration, the first being his early morning tweet bashing MS NOW for its coverage of his high-flying lifestyle, they said, in which Patel boasted: “my jet ski is gold plated…dumbass.”
The second misstep, the people said, was that extensive reports by MS NOW and other news outlets about taxpayers footing the bill for Patel’s globe-trotting ultimately spurred formal questions from Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, a critical ally of President Trump’s.
On Thursday, MS NOW reported exclusively that Grassley had first asked Patel in a May letter about his use of the FBI jet and his decision to purchase luxury armored BMWs so he could travel more discreetly in the Washington, DC area. In a separate letter, Congressional Democrats said they had received information that Patel was demanding that FBI staff arrange special perks on his official trips, including a jet ski excursion and a helicopter tour. The FBI has disputed that, and said Patel had complied with federal rules pertaining to his travel.
White House spokesperson Steven Cheung issued a statement without responding to specific questions about Patel’s cancelled trip or him being summoned to the White House.
“Under President Trump and Director Patel’s leadership at the FBI, crime across the country has plummeted to the lowest level in more than 100 years and many high profile criminals have been put behind bars,” he said. “Director Patel remains a critical player on the Administration’s law and order team.”
When asked to clarify why Patel was at the White House on Friday, a White House official said, “The idea that he was ‘summoned to the White House’ due to ‘frustration’ is totally inaccurate. He was here for unrelated meetings.”
An FBI spokesman declined to comment for this article.
Patel cancelled his flight to Chicago just as he was preparing to leave on Friday morning, according to three people briefed on his move. But the trip to Chicago was already stirring anger and controversy inside the FBI, multiple current and former law enforcement officials told MS NOW. He was planning to attend his girlfriend Alexis Wilkins’ performance Saturday at a country music festival held in the parking lot of a major Chicago stadium, the three people said. Patel’s staff had arranged for the director to make an office visit Friday to the Chicago field office to coincide with his trip, according to two other people with knowledge of the director’s schedule.
Several FBI agents complained internally that this office visit was belatedly-added cover to justify Patel flying the director’s jet — which is estimated to cost tens of thousands of dollars for such domestic trips — to enjoy a weekend in Chicago with his girlfriend, the people said.
“Patel was coming (to Chicago) today for a fake office visit for his girlfriend’s country concert this weekend,” one of the sources briefed on the trip said. The source noted Patel “cancelled the trip while on the tarmac at Andrews” and was “summoned to the White House immediately,” adding that it was “apparent panic” and “believed to be in response to his morning tweet today.”
Reports on Patel’s personal travel have drawn a flurry of Democratic lawmakers’ questions and even President Trump’s ire in some cases, most notably when he used the director’s jet to fly to Milan to see the U.S. men’s ice hockey team finals in the Olympics, a trip that former FBI officials estimate cost at least $1 million when accounting for both the flight costs and expenses for his security detail, pilots and hotel bills. Patel’s office said at the time that he had multiple security and diplomatic meetings in Italy that made this an official visit. Patel had tweeted the previous year, however, in July 2025, of his plans to attend the men’s hockey competition.
Trump shared his disappointment directly with Patel, sources told MS NOW at the time, complaining about the bad look the director had created for the administration and the FBI when he was captured on video chugging beer in the hockey team’s locker room.
Patel also drew scrutiny from conservative supporters of Trump when he used the director’s jet to travel to Penn State to watch Wilkins perform the national anthem. Patel and his office at the time denied he misused FBI resources, and noted that the FBI director is required to fly on the government jet when leaving the area, including on personal trips. Former FBI officials acknowledged that is true, but said that past directors were judicious about personal trips.
The Chicago event where Wilkins is scheduled to perform Saturday is the White City Smokeout, which is promoted as an annual summer festival in the heart of Chicago featuring several days of country music acts, barbecue and craft beer. Wilkins is listed on the event’s website as being scheduled to perform on Saturday.
A source familiar with efforts to help Patel repair his standing in the White House told MS NOW there have been multiple interventions by people who like Patel and have been trying to help him in his position as director.
“With everything going on in the war, how are you not outside the Oval Office ready to go into the Situation Room?” the source said.
According to two people who communicate frequently with the White House, Trump and some senior deputies, including White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, have been irritated by Patel repeatedly drawing negative news coverage that reflects poorly on the administration and draws attention away from what they consider its accomplishments.
Patel’s travel, especially his trip to the Olympics and his office’s claims to MS NOW that it was for official business, became the butt of a series of late-night host jokes and even featured actor Aziz Ansari mockingly playing Patel in a cold open for Saturday Night Live.“
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