FBI Director Kash Patel Addresses Viral Video of Him Partying With Team USA Hockey

Team USA celebrates after beating Canada in the men’s Olympic ice hockey final at the Milan Cortina Games. | Photo by Sports Illustrated’s Erick Rasco

FBI director Kash Patel issued a statement on his social media addressing a viral video that showed him partying with the United States men’s hockey team shortly after their gold medal win in the Milan Cortina Olympics.

On Sunday, Team USA beat Canada in a 2-1 overtime thriller to clinch their first gold medal in men’s Olympic ice hockey since 1980. After the game, a roughly 45-second video circulated on social media that showed Patel drinking beer and celebrating alongside Team USA players in the locker room in Milan. Patel, who looked extremely animated and pumped up about the win, was seen jumping up and down while joining the players in a rendition of Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue.”

Patel responded to the video with a matter-of-fact post on Sunday night:

“For 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,” Patel wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

For 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.…

— Kash Patel (@Kash_Patel) February 23, 2026

Patel reportedly defended his trip to Italy by saying he was meeting with Italian law enforcement officials to help provide an extra layer of security for American athletes and fans at the Olympics. Patel posted on Saturday that he had a visit with the Milan Joint Operations Center, which he said aims to protect “the US athletes, 250,000 US citizens who traveled to Milan for the games, as well as the private sector companies we share information with every day.”

Patel’s trip to Milan coincided with several high-profile security events over the weekend, including an incident in which an armed man was fatally shot by law enforcement officers at Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s Florida residence. Patel noted before his celebration with Team USA’s hockey team that the FBI is “dedicating all necessary resources” to the investigation.

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