FBI Director Patel leads charge to root out Chinese influence on US soil

Patel's early focus on Chinese influence over American land - particularly farmland near sensitive sites - reflects a broader second-term push by the Trump administration to confront the Chinese Communist Party's presence on U.S. soil. The effort has gained traction among Republican lawmakers and conservative allies, who say CCP-connected land ownership poses a direct threat to national security and critical infrastructure.

"FBI Director Kash Patel has made eradicating CCP interference and infiltration in the United States a relentless, uncompromising priority," Patel advisor Erica Knight told Fox News Digital. 

Patel recently told lawmakers that the "effective resolution" of the southern border crisis has prompted adversaries like China, Russia, and Iran to shift their focus to the U.S. northern border.

Trump said he is "looking at it all the time," adding that he has "a very good relationship with China and with the president."

"I have a lot of respect for President Xi," Trump said. 

Trump emphasized that Chinese-owned farmland "has been an issue for years."

"While conservative legislators and governors across the country are taking action to stop adversarial nations from buying U.S. farmland, we must recognize that there's a much broader issue at play here - China's end goal is not confined to land ownership," Grenell wrote. 

The legislation, which also has Democratic support, would allow the Department of Agriculture to submit cases to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. for review if the department suspects there is a national security concern. 

The legislation would require selling land owned or "influenced" by the Chinese Communist Party that is deemed to be a national security risk.

Fox News Digital's Morgan Phillips and Michael Lee contributed to this report.