Administration Trump told Patel he wasn’t pleased with FBI director’s Olympic partying: Report by Ryan Mancini - 02/27/26 7:58 PM ET by Ryan Mancini - 02/27/26 7:58 PM ET Share ✕ LinkedIn LinkedIn Email Email NOW PLAYING President Trump told FBI Director Kash Patel that he was disappointed by Patel’s behavior while partying with the U.S. men’s hockey team during the Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, NBC News reported Friday. The team had won the gold medal after defeating Canada 2-1 in overtime. Patel, a hockey fan, was seen yelling, banging on a table and gulping down a bottle of beer during the locker room celebration on Sunday. Video of the incident, first shared by ProPublica , went viral. Trump, who doesn’t drink alcohol, told Patel that he was not happy with the incident and disliked Patel using a government aircraft to fly to Milan, a person familiar with the matter told NBC News. White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson did not address the reported incident in a statement to The Hill, instead crediting Patel with lowering crime rates in the U.S. “This is a direct result of the President’s law and order agenda which is being successfully implemented by his law and order team, including FBI Director Kash Patel,” Jackson said. “The President has full confidence in his Administration.” The Hill also reached out to the FBI for comment. Patel dismissed criticism over his behavior on Sunday in a post on the social platform X addressed to “the very concerned media.” “Yes, I love America and was extremely humbled when my friends, the newly minted Gold Medal winners on Team USA, invited me into the locker room to celebrate this historic moment with the boys- Greatest country on earth and greatest sport on earth,” he wrote. The FBI previously pushed back on questions about Patel using a government aircraft to fly to Milan. The agency said Patel went to Italy to meet “with regional partners and security teams,” with these travel plans having been planned months in advance. Democrats criticized Patel’s visit, with Xochitl Hinojosa, spokesperson for the Department of Justice under former President Biden, saying his attendance contradicts several other ongoing matters requiring FBI focus. “There was a threat at the president’s residence at MAL [Mar-a-Lago], Americans in Mexico are facing major threats by cartel members, Nancy Guthrie is still missing, and our FBI Director thinks he’s a frat bro?!” she  wrote on X . But as others called the trip inappropriate, media figures on the right praised Patel. Fox News host Will Cain wrote on X that despite “what the Left is trying to turn this into…every proud American is smiling through every second of this video.” Former U.S. Women’s National Team soccer captain Megan Rapinoe questioned why Patel was with the team and why the team members spoke with Trump on the phone about being at his State of the Union address on Tuesday. “I would have never, as a captain or a leader on my team … I think that would have been clear to our staffs, and to the larger organization and support staff, those people would never be allowed in our locker rooms,” Rapinoe said on this week’s episode of her podcast with her partner, former professional basketball player Sue Bird, “A Touch More.” Add as preferred source on Google Tags Donald Trump Joe Biden Kash Patel Megan Rapinoe Sue Bird Will Cain Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Share ✕ LinkedIn LinkedIn Email Email More Administration News See All Administration Biden knocks Trump’s State of the Union speech: ‘Is he still talking?’ by Ryan Mancini 4 hours ago Administration  /  4 hours ago