Top US counterterrorism chief Joe Kent resigns over Iran war, urges Trump to ‘reverse course’

Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned over the US war with Iran, urging President Donald Trump to reverse course, saying Tehran posed no imminent threat.

MediaBites Editorial

Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, has resigned from his post, sharply criticizing the ongoing US military campaign against Iran and urging Donald Trump to reconsider the policy.

In a resignation letter posted on X, Kent said Iran posed “no imminent threat” to the United States and argued that the administration had entered the conflict due to pressure from Israel and its allies in Washington.

“This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States,” Kent wrote in the letter addressed to Trump. “This was a lie.”

Kent, 45, is a decorated US military veteran who previously served in US special forces and later worked as a paramilitary officer at the Central Intelligence Agency. He also served as director of the National Counterterrorism Center under the office of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, overseeing analysis of global terrorist threats.

His resignation marks the most high-profile criticism from within the Trump administration regarding the joint US-Israeli military operations targeting Iran.

Trump dismisses criticism

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday, President Trump downplayed Kent’s resignation and rejected his assessment of the Iranian threat.

“I thought he was a nice guy, but weak on security,” Trump said. “After reading the letter, I realized it’s a good thing he’s out.”

The White House also dismissed Kent’s claims. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president had “strong and compelling evidence” that Iran was preparing to attack the United States.

She added that Kent’s suggestion that Trump was influenced by foreign pressure was “both insulting and laughable.”

Personal and political background

Kent is widely known in conservative political circles and is a longtime supporter of Trump. Earlier in his career, he deployed overseas 11 times with the US military, including missions in Iraq with the US Army’s special forces.

His wife, Navy cryptologic technician Shannon Kent, was killed in a bombing in Syria in 2019 while on a US military mission. Kent later left government service before returning to public life.

In his resignation letter, Kent cited his military service and personal loss, saying he could not support sending American troops into another war that he believes does not benefit the country.

“I 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,” he wrote.

Political reactions

Conservative media commentator Tucker Carlson, a close associate of Kent, praised his decision in an interview with The New York Times.

“Joe is the bravest man I know,” Carlson said. “He’s leaving a job that gave him access to the highest-level intelligence.”

Kent had previously run for Congress twice but failed to win. His nomination to the counterterrorism post earlier in Trump’s presidency faced criticism from Democrats over alleged links to extremist figures and controversial statements about the 2020 US election and the January 6 United States Capitol attack.

Part of broader departures

Kent’s departure comes amid several other high-level exits during Trump’s second term, including Margaret Ryan, enforcement director at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and Ric Grenell, president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Despite these departures, Trump’s current administration has experienced significantly less staff turnover than his first presidency from 2017 to 2021.

Kent’s resignation adds new political tension in Washington as debate intensifies over the US role in the expanding conflict with Iran.