Trump's Counterterrorism Chief Resigns Over Iran War
The director of the National Counterterrorism Center has resigned in protest over the US-Israeli war with Iran, becoming the most senior figure within the Trump administration to publicly leave their position over the conflict.
Joe Kent, 45, a retired Green Beret and CIA paramilitary officer who had been a long-time Trump loyalist, posted his resignation letter on X on Tuesday. "I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran," he wrote. "Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby."
His use of the phrase "imminent threat" carries legal weight. Under US law, imminence is considered a prerequisite for a president to launch military action without congressional approval, and it is also a key threshold under international law for attacking a sovereign nation.
Kent served in 11 combat deployments over a 20-year Army Special Forces career and later worked as a CIA paramilitary officer. His wife, Navy cryptologic technician Shannon Kent, was killed in a suicide bombing in Syria in 2019. He cited both her death and his own service in explaining his decision to resign, writing 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."
In the letter, Kent addressed Trump directly, invoking the president's own past rhetoric. He wrote that Trump had previously "understood that wars in the Middle East were a trap that robbed America of the precious lives of our patriots and depleted the wealth and prosperity of our nation." He alleged that "high-ranking Israeli officials" and influential US journalists had spread "misinformation" that pushed Trump to abandon his "America First" platform. "This echo was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posted an imminent threat to the United States," he wrote. "This was a lie." Kent urged the president to "reverse course."
Kent reported to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, a political ally who has kept a low profile since the war began and has previously been critical of US military interventions abroad. His appointment had been part of the administration's broader effort to install trusted loyalists in senior intelligence and national security roles. He was narrowly confirmed by the Senate, with Democrats criticising his ties to extremist figures including associates of the Proud Boys. At his confirmation hearing, he declined to distance himself from claims that federal agents had instigated the January 6 Capitol riots or that Trump had won the 2020 election.
Kent had twice run unsuccessfully for Congress before being nominated to the counterterrorism role. His departure represents a significant moment of internal dissent in an administration that, despite some high-profile exits, including the SEC's enforcement director and Kennedy Center President Ric Grenell, has seen considerably less turnover in Trump's second term than his first.
