President Donald Trump âlaughedâ at a âtotally falseâ MS NOW report that he was considering firing FBI Director Kash Patel, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday. Leavitt, in a post on X, said the story was âcompletely made up.â
She said she was in the Oval Office with both Trump and Patel when the report was published on Tuesday, prompting Trump to take a quick picture standing alongside the FBI director. Leavitt posted the photo, with both men smiling and giving Trumpâs trademark thumbs-up gesture.
âWhat? Thatâs totally false. Come on, Kash, letâs take a picture to show them youâre doing a great job!â Trump said, according to Leavitt.
The White House response came an hour after MS NOW reported Trump was âconsidering removing Kash Patel as FBI director in the coming months, as he and his top aides have grown increasingly frustrated by the unflattering headlines Patel has recently generated.â
One of the authors of the story, justice and intelligence correspondent Ken Dilanian, stood by the reporting during an appearance on MS NOW following Leavittâs post.
âI said in the last hour that we may have enhanced Kash Patelâs job security by reporting this story. And that seems to be playing out. But thereâs another factor. I also got some texts from FBI sources after the story was published, saying youâre spot on⌠itâs anybodyâs guess how this is all going to play out, but it is absolutely our reporting that, of course, Pam Bondi and Todd Blanche, but also the White House and Donald Trump have grown annoyed with the bad press that Patel has been racking up,â Dilanian said.
One headline Trump disliked, according to MS NOWâs initial report, was a story claiming Patel used a government jet to watch his girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins, perform.
Patel called that report âfake newsâ earlier this month.
Dilanian, during an earlier appearance Tuesday with anchor Katy Tur, laid out what MS NOW says it has been told by its sources.
âWell, Katy, I should say, first of all, all the qualifiers apply here. With Donald Trump and personnel decisions, you never actually know exactly whatâs going on. But we are being told that Kash Patel, the FBI director, is on increasingly thin ice, and the president is considering replacing him by the end of the year with Andrew Bailey, the former attorney general of Missouri, who is acting now as co-deputy FBI director along with Dan Bongino,â he said.
Dilanian added that Trump was upset by âpremature tweetsâ Patel sent related to the investigation into the murder of Charlie Kirk.
In October, Patel announced that the bureau is âfollowing the moneyâ behind Antifa and other far-left militant groups, launching an unprecedented financial investigation aimed at dismantling every donor network, funding mechanism, and organizational link supporting domestic extremism.
âWe are following the money. Money never lies,â Patel said during a briefing alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. âAnd thatâs what itâs going to take to bring down this network of organized criminal thugs, gang bangers, and yes, domestic terrorists â because thatâs what they are.â
Patel said the FBI is working closely with the Treasury Department to map out the web of accounts and entities used to finance Antifaâs operations across the United States and abroad.
âWe will not rest until we uncover every single source of funding, donor, organization, and financial support that exists,â he added.
According to Patel, the effort will span every major city in the country. âThey will not be able to hide. They were able to hide and conspire with prior administrations, and we are exposing their corruption from within,â he said.

