MAGA bros unite over Olympic gold.

The director of the FBI got a Make-a-Wish experience over the weekend. You and I paid several hundred thousand dollars (at least) to send Kash Patel to Milan, where he watched from a suite as the American men’s hockey team beat Canada in overtime for the Olympic gold medal. Whether by inviting himself or getting the call from members of the team, Patel then got to live every 45-year-old’s dream and celebrate with the team. Gathered around in the center of the locker room, drenched with beer, were the proud American players and the boss of their country’s top investigative force.

A source sent me this video of FBI Director Kash Patel partying with the US Men’s Olympic Hockey team. pic.twitter.com/egjmdhOAF6

— William Turton (@WilliamTurton) February 22, 2026

Patel lined up a few meetings in Italy, which appear to have had the purpose of letting his spokesman pretend he was there on law enforcement business rather than to watch hockey and drink with the athletes who had just won the gold. The night before the U.S. played Canada for gold, an MS NOW reporter asked an FBI spokesman if Patel would be at the hockey game. The spokesman replied: “Your rag outlet wrote that he went to hang out at the Olympics on the taxpayer dime – even when provided information that your theory was false. When you’re ready to correct that let me know. Won’t hold my breath.”

Hours later, Patel, who again was traveling on the taxpayer dime, turned up at the Olympics. The first reveal came via an Instagram story posted by American forward Dylan Larkin, who was carrying his phone from person to person before Patel just popped into the screen with him. Someone—I am desperate to find out who—then gave ProPublica reporter William Turton the video embedded above that shows Patel slamming a beer and screaming. Then, another video leaked of Patel conducting a locker-room-wide call with President Donald Trump. On this call, Trump invited the American men to the State of the Union and the White House, while noting that he’d also have to invite the gold medal–winning women’s team to the event, lest he get impeached.

You may think that Patel, who once criticized his predecessor’s personal use of a government plane, comes out of this looking like a bit of a hypocrite. But really, his fantasy-camp weekend was the ultimate act of honesty and revelation for him, his government, and his favorite international hockey team. Nobody involved could have possibly been more explicit regarding what they care about and what they think this team represents.

First, let’s talk about what isn’t surprising about all this. It’s not new that Patel would use your money to go on a fun recreational trip. Be they government security forces or aircraft, the FBI director has a liking for the finer, taxpayer-funded things in life. The New York Times reported in November that he had made a habit of directing federal security officers to protect his girlfriend, a country music artist. Patel has regularly used the bureau’s plane to see her shows, rendering the jet unusable for actual crime-fighting activities. It is also not new that Patel would use your money to go watch hockey. He randomly turned up next to Wayne Gretzky at two NHL games last year as Alexander Ovechkin was breaking Gretzky’s all-time goals record. Patel is a longtime amateur player. And he said last July that he was planning to see the men’s team at the Olympics. How fortunate that he had meetings in Milan!

Also not new is the glowing embrace that USA Hockey’s men’s operation has given to Trump and his underlings. A big chunk of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” team has appeared with Trump on both the campaign trail and in the Oval Office. Trump also loomed large for the men’s team during the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament last year, with the American general manager saying there was a “political flair” to the Americans’ three on-ice fights against Canada.

Even if these behaviors and predilections aren’t new, Patel’s visit brings some fresh clarity to a whole bunches of issues revolving around him and his political movement.

First is the sneering contempt for women’s sports that Patel, his boss, and, unfortunately, some number of American men’s hockey players carry around with them. The Republican Party has refashioned itself in recent years as the party that cares about women’s sports and female athletes. It has done this in the service of keeping trans women out of these sports, an awkward initiative given how dismissive so many conservatives are of women athletes when the subject isn’t trans eligibility. Still, it was genuinely shocking when Trump, on a speakerphone in Patel’s hand, told the team, “I must tell you, we’re gonna have to bring the women’s team. You do know that.” The room let out a big, hearty laugh, and Trump continued, “I do believe I probably would be impeached.”

A particular bummer here was the visible, bent-over laughter of overtime hero Jack Hughes, whose mom literally works for the women’s team. The women’s squad—which has been considerably more successful than the men’s for the past several decades—was a good laugh line for Trump, Patel, and the American men. Some classic locker room talk, eh boys?

Just as revealing is the fact that Patel was so comfortable being in Milan in the first place. His team was clearly a little squeamish about the optics, as evidenced by the effort to make it appear that he had a serious, non-hockey reason to go overseas. After all, the FBI director’s historical remit is to do work related to, uh, crime. But here was Patel, watching hockey instead of doing the things the public usually expects the FBI director to do. Nancy Guthrie remains missing. (Cut to a visual of Patel cheering from his box.) Various Epstein files remain redacted or unreleased. (Hey, check out this video of the FBI director chugging a beer.)

The U.S. Had a Crazy Strategy to Beat Canada for Men’s Hockey Gold. I Can’t Believe It Worked.

Kash Patel and the U.S. Men’s Hockey Team Deserve Each Other

Patel is touchy enough about appearances to send condescending tweets about “very concerned media” focusing on his hockey attendance because they just can’t stand how much he loves America. But if he cared as much about safeguarding taxpayer money, he wouldn’t have gone to Milan in the first place, much less posted pictures of his trip. In fact, it seems like Patel believes that posting things on the internet is the most important part of his job. He is obsessive about social media, reportedly scripting out his own releases of information on Twitter, as well as how his deputies will interact with his posts. Yes, in theory, his job is to fight crime. But in practice, he mostly wants to get retweets and watch hockey. If that costs a bit of taxpayer money, so be it.

A lot of people got a nice little boost from Team USA’s big win on Sunday. Trump got to be chummy with athletes and attach himself to a moment of patriotism. The American players got to have a phone call with the big man. But nobody had a better time than the FBI director whose only managerial responsibility was to direct some beers into his mouth while his heroes let him cosplay as a gold medalist.

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