Donald Trump’s hand-picked FBI Director has been summoned to the White House, forcing him to cancel a planned trip to see his girlfriend, in a sign of mounting displeasure with his performance in the job.Kash Patel has endured a rocky year-and-a-half in charge of America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation, marked by allegations of incompetence, largesse on the taxpayer dime, and a lack of focus on his duties.You might recall a couple of his poorer moments.He made global headlines in February for example when, having travelled to Italy for supposed work meetings during the Winter Olympics, he was filmed in the locker room of the American ice hockey team chugging beers and celebrating its gold medal win.After the assassination of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk last year, Mr Patel prematurely tweeted out news that a suspect was in custody, only to be contradicted by other law enforcement officials shortly afterwards. He subsequently berated his underlings for what he described as a “Mickey Mouse operation”.Mr Patel is among the Trump administration officials whose credibility was most damaged by the Epstein files. Having demanded the files’ public release before he took the job, and saying powerful political figures would be compromised by them, Mr Patel then participated in the Trump administration’s efforts to keep them from public view.Mr Patel has been reasonably effective in some ways though.Chiefly, he has purged employees seen as insufficiently loyal to Mr Trump from the FBI’s franks, with a particular focus on anybody who participated in criminal investigations into the President after he left office in 2021.One of those investigations concerned Mr Trump’s efforts to stay in power after he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.The other focused on him allegedly stealing government documents when he left office, including some that were highly classified. Mr Trump stored the documents in question at his private residences, such as his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago.Those cases died when Mr Trump won the 2024 election, and hundreds of staff who worked on them across the FBI and Justice Department have now been purged. There’s one more massive blot on Mr Patel’s record, however: his use of government-funded privileges on apparent personal pursuits.On top of his visit to the Winter Olympics in Italy, which Mr Patel insisted was a work trip, he has crisscrossed the United States to attend the UFC, and to visit his girlfriend, an aspiring country music singer named Alexis Wilkins.He was reportedly planning one such visit, to Chicago, when ordered to attend the White House this weekend by “frustrated” senior officials.“The precise reasons that Patel’s political bosses demanded he cancel his trip and report to the West Wing are unclear, but several people said top Trump deputies were disturbed by a range of actions by Patel,” reports MS NOW.“Some found it confounding that the FBI director was leaving town amid the recent revival of the war with Iran and alleged threats against the President’s life, according to a person familiar with efforts to help Patel rebuild trust with the White House.”The network’s sources requested anonymity to speak, given the sensitivity of the matter.They said Mr Patel’s biggest misstep was “taxpayers footing the bill for his globetrotting” lifestyle, to such an extent that one of Mr Trump’s key allies in Congress, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley started to formally ask questions about it.“Grassley had first asked Patel in a May letter about his use of the FBI jet and his decision to purchase luxury armoured BMWs so he could travel more discreetly,” said MS NOW.“In a separate letter, congressional Democrats said they had received information that Patel was demanding that FBI staff arrange special perks on his official trips, including jet ski excursions and a helicopter tour.”The FBI keeps stressing that Mr Patel has not broken any rules.The White House downplayed the reports of tensions with Mr Patel when approached by MS NOW for comment.“Under President Trump and Director Patel’s leadership at the FBI, crime across the country has plummeted to the lowest level in more than 100 years and many high profile criminals have been put behind bars,” said spokesman Steven Cheung.“Director Patel remains a critical player on the administration’s law and order team.”Three sources briefed on Mr Patel’s movements said he cancelled his flight to Chicago on Friday soon before he was due to leave.“The trip was already stirring anger and controversy inside the FBI,” the network said.“He was planning to attend his girlfriend’s performance at a country music festival held in the parking lot of a major Chicago stadium. Patel’s staff had arranged for him to make an office visit to the Chicago field office to coincide with his trip.“Several FBI agents complained internally that this office visit was belatedly-added cover to justify Patel flying the Director’s jet – which is estimated to cost tens of thousands of dollars for such domestic trips – to enjoy a weekend in Chicago with his girlfriend.”One of the sources explicitly called it a “fake office visit”. They said Mr Patel had cancelled the trip while on the tarmac, and that the scene was one of “apparent panic”.Read related topics:Donald Trump