The Trump administration's top official on counterterrorism and top aide to intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard, has resigned, making him the first senior Trump administration official to resign over the war in Iran. The departure leaves the United States without a director of the National Counterterrorism Center during a war. National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent on his X account announced he was leaving the post and posted the resignation letter which stated, 'I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. 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.
'I support the values and the foreign policies that you campaigned on in 2016, 2020, 2024, which you enacted in your first term. Until June of 2025, you understood that the 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.
'Early in this administration, high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign that wholly undermined your America First platform and sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran.
'This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and that should you strike now, there was a clear path to a swift victory. This was a lie and is the same tactic the Israelis used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war that cost our nation the lives of thousands of our best men and women. We cannot make this mistake again.'
Kent’s rebuke of Trump’s claims that Iran was imminent threat underscored the same discomfort many in the “America First” camp are voicing.
Kent, 45, is a US special forces and CIA veteran whose deceased wife was a Navy cryptologic technician who was killed in a bombing in Syria in 2019. He twice unsuccessfully ran for Congress as a Trump-aligned Republican. Like Gabbard, whom he worked closely with, Kent entered the administration with strong anti-interventionist credentials.
Following the announcement, the Trump administration moved to contain the fallout, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt publishing a lengthy statement rejecting Kent’s claim that Iran posed no imminent threat saying the idea that Trump was swayed by Israel “insulting and laughable.”
The Trump administration, senior advisors fiercely pushed back criticizing Kent calling him a crazed egomaniac and leaker.
When asked about Kent, Trump said he didn’t know him and that “he was a nice guy” but “weak on security.”
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is bracing for an expected Kent interview with right-wing critic Tucker Carlson, who also opposes the war.