The F in FBI apparently now stands for fashion.
In a series of photos posted to his X account Sunday, the bureau’s new director, Kash Patel, flexed a new look while joining his agents for an apparent field exercise.
Rather than dressing in his usual suit and tie, Patel instead opted for a camouflage vest, gray windbreaker, large gray sunglasses and matching camouflage baseball hat.
“I am 1000% behind this FBI,” he captioned the photo set.
It’s unclear where Patel was in the photos.
The outing seemed to fit with Patel’s stated goal of injecting some more masculine energy into the bureau. One of his premier initiatives is a planned partnership with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to increase employees’ physical fitness.
His game of dress-up also evoked the outfit choices of another member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who has shown up at a number of field operations, and even on Fox News, in a branded bulletproof vest.
The fashion choices—often accompanied with full makeup and an apparent fresh blowout—have earned her the nickname “ICE Barbie.”
The former South Dakota governor first scored the moniker in January after she glammed up for a photo-op in New York City, which also happened to be the first major deportation raids since Donald Trump returned to office.
The 53-year-old later earned herself a second moniker, “Cosplay Kristi,” after she donned a giant cowboy hat for a segment on NBC’s Meet the Press.
She also last week tagged along with the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for a series of raids targeting gang members and sex criminals in Virginia, donning full tactical gear while participating in the show of force.
The outfit choices reflect a key reality of working for Trump—who has long been overtly concerned with how his subordinates appear on TV. The president often talks about how much he appreciates employees who appear “out of central casting”—something that Noem and Patel appear to believe will include their outfit choices.
