Trump's FBI director 'wanted to go to Premier League game instead of meeting MI5'
Source: The Independent
Friday 23 January 2026 10:14 EST
FBI director Kash Patel reportedly wanted to go to Premier League football matches instead of attending office-based meetings with international allies, including the UK’s MI5 director. A senior FBI executive told The New York Times that Mr Patel didn’t want to go to meetings in offices when he attended a secret Five Eyes Conference – a meeting of intelligence services from the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States – in May. Instead, Mr Patel wished to prioritise social events, including live sport and jet skiing, the source said.
The executive said, “Before the conference, his staff says he’s unhappy because he doesn’t like meetings in office settings. What he wants is social events. He wants Premier soccer games. “He wants to go jet skiing. He’d like a helicopter tour. Everyone who heard about this was like: Hold on. “Is he really going to ask the MI5 director to go jet skiing instead of meeting? The schedule is set, and every Five Eyes partner is doing this. “They can’t just say that he’s not participating and instead he wants to go to a Premier soccer game. This is a job, guys.”
The White House denied the claims in the story and said it was a “regurgitation of fake narratives”, and the report was filled with “speculation from anonymous sources”.
Mr Patel is seemingly a fan of reigning Premier League champions Liverpool FC. He wore a club tie to a US senate hearing last September and has tweeted about his support for them, notably celebrating Arne Slot’s side’s Premier League title win last April.
Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/politics/kash-patel-fbi-director-premier-league-mi5-b2906211.html
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