FBI Director Kash Patel Pops Beers in Team USA’s Olympic locker room after their historic gold medal win.
MILAN, ITALY — The head of the FBI is going viral… and not for a press conference.
FBI Director Kash Patel found himself trending after video showed him inside Team USA’s locker room — beer in hand — celebrating the U.S. men’s hockey team’s gold medal win over Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan.
The nation’s top law enforcement official was shoulder-to-shoulder with sweaty hockey players, chanting, cheering, and cracking open cold ones like he just got drafted.
Clips circulating on Instagram and X show Patel raising a beer and joining the team’s post-game hype session moments after Team USA clinched gold — their first men’s hockey gold medal since 1980.
In one viral moment, players even draped a medal around Patel’s neck while the locker room erupted in chants.
BAD TIMING OR JUST BAD OPTICS?
Patel was reportedly in Italy for a combination of official security meetings and Olympic-related duties. The FBI insists his attendance included planned work tied to Olympic security, and that any personal portions of the trip would be reimbursed.
But social media users aren’t buying the kumbaya explanation.
Patel didn’t stay quiet.
He posted that he was “extremely humbled” to be invited into the locker room, framing the moment as celebrating a historic American sports achievement — nothing more, nothing less.
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
