Joe Kent, the Trump administration’s top counterterrorism official, has resigned in protest over the war in Iran, calling on the president to “reverse course.”
In a public letter posted to his X account, Kent, 45, stated that Iran posed “no imminent threat” to the US. The former National Counterterrorism Center Director alleged that the administration “started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”
Kent is a former US special forces soldier and CIA veteran. His wife, Navy cryptologic technician Shannon Kent, was killed in a 2019 bombing in Syria. Citing his military service and his wife’s death, Kent wrote that he “cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people nor justifies the cost of American lives.”
The White House quickly dismissed the letter, asserting that Trump had “compelling evidence” of a planned Iranian attack on the US.
Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump called Kent a “nice guy” but “weak on security,” suggesting the resignation letter confirmed, “it was a good thing that he’s out.” The president also disagreed with Kent’s analysis of the Iranian threat.
With his departure, Kent becomes the most senior figure in the Trump administration to publicly criticize the joint US-Israeli operation in Iran.Kent’s Allegations Against Trump and Allies
In his letter to the president, Kent, a long-time Trump supporter who unsuccessfully ran for Congress twice, alleged that “high-ranking Israeli officials” and influential US journalists created an “echo chamber” of “misinformation.” He claimed this deception led the president to undermine his “America First” platform by making him believe “that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States… This was a lie.”White House Response and Political Context
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt refuted Kent’s claims, calling his suggestion that Trump “made the decision based on the influence of others, even foreign countries, is both insulting and laughable. “She reiterated that “President Trump has clearly and explicitly stated, he had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first.”
Kent was nominated by Trump early in his term and was narrowly confirmed, facing criticism from many Democrats over his links to extremist groups, including members of the Proud Boys. During his confirmation hearing, he refused to retract claims that federal agents instigated the January 6th Capitol riots or that Trump won the 2020 election.
At the National Counterterrorism Center, Kent reported to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, overseeing global threat analysis. Before this role, he completed 11 overseas deployments with the US military, including service with the Army’s special forces in Iraq, and later worked as a paramilitary officer for the CIA before leaving government after his wife’s death. Support for Kent
Related News
Conservative media commentator Tucker Carlson, who has close personal ties to Kent, praised him in a brief interview with the New York Times. Carlson stated, “Joe is the bravest man I know, and he can’t be dismissed as a nut. He’s leaving a job that gave him access to the highest-level relevant intelligence. The neocons will try to destroy him for that. He understands that and did it anyway.”
Kent’s resignation joins those of other senior officials in Trump’s second term, including Security and Exchange Commission enforcement director Margaret Ryan and Kennedy Center President Ric Grenell, though the overall turnover is lower than his first term (2017-2021).Related Coverage
