The White House is firing back hard at an MS NOW report claiming President Donald Trump was considering removing FBI Director Kash Patel — a story Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says is “completely made up” and so false that Trump literally laughed at it.
Leavitt posted on X Tuesday that she was in the Oval Office with both Trump and Patel when the outlet published its anonymously sourced report. According to her, Trump immediately dismissed the claim as nonsense and suggested they take a photo together to shut the rumor down. She then shared the photo, showing Trump and Patel smiling side-by-side with the president flashing his signature thumbs-up.
“What? That’s totally false. Come on, Kash, let’s take a picture to show them you’re doing a great job!” Trump reportedly said.
The White House response came roughly an hour after MS NOW ran a story claiming Trump was weighing Patel’s removal due to “unflattering headlines” involving the FBI director — citing “three people with knowledge of the situation,” a familiar media formulation often used in anonymously sourced political hit pieces.
One of the headlines Trump supposedly disliked involved a report accusing Patel of using a government jet to watch his girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins, perform — a story Patel publicly labeled “fake news” weeks ago.
This story is completely made up.
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.
I read the headline to the President and he laughed. He said: “What? That’s… https://t.co/qbsy0nW2Bg pic.twitter.com/aNL5Qw9MA8
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) November 25, 2025
MS NOW anchor Katy Tur interviewed one of the report’s authors, correspondent Ken Dilanian, who padded the segment with caveats, noting that “all the qualifiers apply” when discussing Trump personnel decisions. Dilanian claimed Patel was on “thin ice” and that Trump was looking at potentially replacing him by year’s end with Andrew Bailey — the former Missouri attorney general who currently serves as co-deputy FBI director along with Dan Bongino.
Dilanian also said Trump was upset about “premature tweets” Patel had posted regarding the investigation into the murder of Charlie Kirk.
But the Trump White House is forcefully rejecting all of it.
Leavitt said the story is “completely fabricated,” and the Oval Office photo seems aimed at ending speculation before it spreads. The public show of unity also signals Trump’s continued confidence in Patel, whom he appointed as FBI director to clean up an agency long plagued by politicization, internal leaks, and credibility issues dating back to the Comey–McCabe era.
The episode is the latest example of corporate media relying on unnamed sources to push dramatic personnel rumors that collapse under scrutiny — while the administration pushes back with on-the-record statements and, in this case, photographic receipts.
For now, Patel remains firmly in place, with Trump making clear he has no plans to remove the FBI director — despite yet another media attempt to create turmoil where none exists.
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