Kash Patel to be ousted? Trump dismisses rumours, backs FBI Director amid speculation

Amid rumours that Donald Trump was considering removing Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel from his post, the US President on Tuesday offered support to the 45-year-old American lawyer.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump dismissed the speculation, saying that Patel was doing a "great job".

The rumours about the Republican President mulling Patel's ouster gained steam after news outlet MS NOW, citing three unidentified sources, reported that Trump and his aides had grown frustrated with the FBI Director, owing to some of the unflattering media attention he's received of late.

MS NOW had further reported that Trump was considering top FBI official Andrew Bailey as Patel's replacement as the federal agency's chief.

However, shortly after the MS NOW reported sparked speculation, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt jumped in to quell the rumours.

Posting a photo of the FBI Director and the US President, Leavitt took to X, calling the MS NOW report “fake news”.

“This story is completely made up,” was Leavitt's assertion.

“In fact, when this Fake News published, I was in the Oval Office, where President Trump was meeting with his law enforcement team, including FBI Director Kash Patel (sic),” the White House Press Secretary added, backing Patel.

“I read the headline to the President and he laughed. He said: “What? That’s totally false. Come on Kash, let’s take a picture to show them you’re doing a great job!” Do not believe the Fake News! (sic),” she concluded.

However, despite the White House Press Secretary's outright rejection of the report, MS Now has said that it stands behind its reporting, Reuters said.

Bad publicity

Rumours about Patel's ouster comes on the back of a string of recent controversies that saw the FBI Director face flak for allegedly using tax payer money for personal needs.

The FBI chief came under heavy criticism in October for using a government jet worth $60 million to travel to Pennsylvania State University to watch his country singer girlfriend Alexis Wilkins perform at a wrestling event.

Despite the outrage, however, Patel defended his actions at the time saying that he was a “required-use traveller” who must use use government aircraft for all travel, adding that he reimburses the US government for his personal travels at commercial rates.

The 45-year-old has also been accused of using an FBI SWAT team to offer protection to his 26-year-old girlfriend Wilkins, something that is far from standard protocol and a serious abuse of power and government resources.

The FBI chief has also been accused of “personally directing the ongoing purge of senior law-enforcement officials at the FBI”, with Senator Dick Durbin claiming that he had “highly credible information” regarding the same.

Patel was also accused of not disclosing his “consulting work for the Embassy of Qatar and for the parent company of Shein” during his confirmation, as per a Reuters report, and although the FBI Director claimed that he had stopped consulting prior to his confirmation, AP reported that undisclosed foreign ties could skew decision-making and harm the credibility of the FBI.