The White House on Tuesday strongly denied a report claiming that President Donald Trump was thinking about removing FBI Director Kash Patel. The rumour began after a website reported that Trump was considering replacing Patel with FBI co-deputy director Andrew Bailey. The report linked the possible change to recent scrutiny surrounding Patel’s social media posts during major investigations and his use of a government jet to visit his girlfriend.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt quickly shut down the claim on X, writing, “This story is completely made up.”

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Trump ‘not replacing’ Kash Patel as FBI director

Leavitt later added that when the report came out, Trump was actually in the Oval Office meeting with his law enforcement team, and Patel was right there with him. In her X post, she wrote, “In fact, when this Fake News was published, I was in the Oval Office, where President Trump was meeting with his law enforcement team, including FBI Director Kash Patel.” According to her, when she read the headline aloud, Trump simply laughed and said he had no idea where such rumours were coming from. “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!” She concluded her message with, “Do not believe the Fake News!”

Who is Andrew Bailey?

Andrew Bailey, who earlier served as Missouri’s attorney general, has for months been talked about in Washington as someone who might one day replace either Patel or deputy director Dan Bongino.

Both Patel and Bongino are well-known for their conservative political commentary, which often draws attention because neither comes from a traditional law enforcement background. The FBI itself did not give any immediate comment on the report. 

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The firing report also seemed odd to many because just last week, Trump praised Patel in an interview with Fox News Radio. He said he had “a lot of confidence” in him and suggested he was happy with Patel’s work.

Why is Patel under scrutiny?

Patel has been facing intense scrutiny over the past few weeks. Earlier, a report from the New York Times reported that the FBI sent a SWAT team to protect Patel’s girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins. Patel also used government jets to visit Wilkins and for personal trips. He defended this by saying he needs secure communications at all times, so using those jets is standard practice.

Legal experts have questioned Patel’s habit of posting updates about ongoing investigations on social media. These included posts during the search for the man accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk, and what the FBI said was a planned Halloween terror attack in Michigan.