Turmoil at the F.B.I.: As Trump Weighs Firing Patel, MAGA Infighting Exposes Fractures in the President’s Inner Circle

By Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan Washington — Nov. 26, 2025

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration, barely a year into its second term, is grappling with a cascade of internal conflicts that have spilled into public view, with the latest flash point centering on F.B.I. Director Kash Patel. Reports that President Donald J. Trump is seriously considering Mr. Patel’s ouster — amid a barrage of scandals involving misuse of agency resources and unfulfilled promises on high-profile investigations — have ignited accusations of betrayal within the MAGA movement, raising fears of a broader schism that could undermine Mr. Trump’s agenda.

The speculation erupted Tuesday from MSNBC, which cited three sources close to the White House saying Mr. Trump and his top aides had grown “frustrated” with Mr. Patel’s penchant for generating “unflattering headlines,” including his use of an F.B.I. jet for personal trips to visit his girlfriend, the country singer Alexis Wilkins, and deploying a SWAT team for her security. The report named Andrew Bailey, the F.B.I.’s co-deputy director and former Missouri attorney general, as a potential replacement, with a possible dismissal by mid-December. On X, the platform once known as Twitter, the news trended under hashtags like #FireKash and #MAGACivilWar, with posts from conservative influencers decrying Mr. Patel as a “honeypot liability” and others defending him as a “deep state warrior” under siege.

The White House moved swiftly to quash the rumors. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, posting from the Oval Office during a meeting with Mr. Trump and Mr. Patel, described the story as “completely made up” and “fake news.” She recounted reading the MSNBC headline aloud to the president, who “laughed” and posed for a thumbs-up photo with the F.B.I. director, captioning it: “Come on Kash, let’s take a picture to show them you’re doing a great job!” Aboard Air Force One later that evening, Mr. Trump himself dismissed the reports, telling reporters: “No! He’s doing a great job!”

Yet the denial did little to stem the tide of discontent. Mr. Patel, a onetime Trump bodyguard and podcast host who rose to prominence railing against the “deep state,” has become a lightning rod for MAGA purists frustrated by what they see as his failure to deliver on campaign pledges. Chief among the grievances: the handling of Jeffrey Epstein’s files. Mr. Patel had vowed a full release upon taking office in January, positioning himself as the avenger of Trump-era conspiracies. Instead, the documents — redacted and dribbled out in batches — have yielded little new information, prompting backlash from figures like former podcaster Dan Bongino, now F.B.I. co-deputy director, who skipped work in July over the perceived fizzle. “Over-promise, under-deliver,” one conservative commentator lamented on X, echoing a sentiment that has rippled through Trump’s base.

The personal scandals have only amplified the chaos. Mr. Patel’s relationship with Ms. Wilkins, 26, has drawn scrutiny since he allegedly used taxpayer-funded jets for dates, including flights to her wrestling events and Nashville concerts. A whistleblower, former F.B.I. agent Kyle Seraphin, accused Mr. Patel of firing a senior aviation supervisor, Steven Palmer, who questioned the flights — and then blocking public tracking of the aircraft. Ms. Wilkins, in turn, has sued MAGA influencers for defamation after they labeled her an Israeli “honeypot” operative, a claim Mr. Patel has decried as a betrayal by his own allies. “To our supposed allies staying silent — your silence is louder than the clickbait haters,” Mr. Patel posted on X last week, a plea that backfired and drew mockery from the right.

This is not Mr. Patel’s first brush with internecine drama. In October, he was overruled by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, a fellow Trump appointee, who blocked his attempt to fire four veteran agents involved in Jan. 6 investigations, arguing it would derail ongoing cases. Mr. Patel complied briefly before reversing course again, dismissing the agents in a move that even some Republicans privately called “MAGA pingpong.” Earlier, he terminated over 30 agents deemed insufficiently loyal, a purge that alienated moderates within the bureau and fueled leaks about his management style.

The brewing civil war extends beyond Mr. Patel. Reports have swirled of potential firings for Attorney General Pam Bondi, criticized for similar Epstein file mishandling, and even Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, accused by hard-liners of diluting the MAGA brand with corporate ties. On Reddit’s r/politics subreddit, users speculated that Mr. Trump’s frustration stems from Mr. Patel’s inability to neutralize Epstein-related evidence potentially damaging to the president. X threads buzzed with memes of Mr. Patel as a “keystone cop,” while supporters like Gunther Eagleman urged: “Ignore the BS — if he weren’t a threat, the deep state wouldn’t attack so hard.”

Political analysts see echoes of Mr. Trump’s first term, when high turnover — including three chiefs of staff and two attorneys general — hampered governance. “This is purgatory for the over-promisers,” said Sarah Longwell, a Republican strategist and co-host of “The Bulwark” podcast. “Patel was sold as the Epstein slayer, but he’s become a tabloid fixture. Firing him risks alienating the base; keeping him erodes credibility.” Polling from Quinnipiac shows Mr. Trump’s approval dipping to 48 percent among Republicans, with 22 percent citing “internal drama” as a concern — a warning sign ahead of 2026 midterms.

For Mr. Patel, 45, the son of Indian immigrants who parlayed national security briefings into a MAGA media empire, the scrutiny cuts deep. Once hailed by Mr. Trump as a “warrior,” he now faces racial undertones in the backlash, with some X users questioning his “loyalty” amid the movement’s nativist strains. Indian-American conservatives like Dinesh D’Souza have voiced similar disillusionment, warning of a “MAGA awakening” where minority allies are expendable.

Democrats, sensing vulnerability, pounced. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called for congressional oversight hearings, tweeting: “From purges to private jets — the F.B.I. is now Trump’s personal vendetta machine.” Yet within MAGA circles, the real peril lies in fragmentation. As one anonymous Trump adviser told The New York Times, “Kash was supposed to be the purifier, not the punchline. This split could bleed into 2028 succession fights.”

As Thanksgiving tables groan under turkey and tension, the Patel saga underscores a timeless Trumpian irony: The man who built an empire on loyalty now navigates a court where feuds fester faster than fixes. Will Mr. Patel survive the week, or become the latest casualty in Mr. Trump’s revolving door? In Washington, where power plays are as predictable as they are explosive, the answer may hinge on one question: Who holds the president’s ear today?

For now, the MAGA civil war simmers — a reminder that even in victory, the movement Mr. Trump unleashed remains a powder keg of its own making