Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center and a far-right political figure and supporter of Donald Trump, resigned from his position on Tuesday in protest of the war in Iran.
“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Kent wrote in a resignation letter posted to X. “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.”
Kent, who worked under the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, is a former special forces warrant officer with extensive combat experience. His wife, Shannon Kent, a navy cryptologic technician, was killed in action in 2019 during a suicide bombing in Manbij, Syria.
Kent’s letter lauded Trump’s foreign military actions in his first administration, such as the killing of Qassem Suleimani and “defeating Isis” while avoiding being drawn into “never-ending wars”. But he charged the president with abandoning this posture after an influence campaign.
“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,” Kent wrote. “This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and you should 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 ran for Congress in south-west Washington state after his wife’s death in 2022 and 2024, losing both times to Marie Gluesenkamp Perez. Though the district is relatively conservative – Trump won this district in 2024 – Kent’s campaigns were marred by associations with figures on the far right and white nationalists, such as Graham Jorgensen, a member of the far-right military group the Proud Boys, and Joey Gibson, the founder of the Christian nationalist group Patriot Prayer.
Kent also embraced anti-government conspiracy theories such as the argument that the FBI and the intelligence community were involved in the January 6 attack at the US Capitol and that the 2020 election was stolen by Joe Biden.
Democrats highlighted this activity, as well as his participation in a Signal group chat with administration officials discussing attacks on Houthi militia which erupted in scandal after Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of the Atlantic, revealed he had been accidentally added to the chat. He was confirmed in July on a partisan 52-44 vote.
Trump responded to the news of Kent’s resignation at a White House St Patrick’s Day reception, saying he had read Kent’s resignation statement and claiming he “didn’t know him well”.
“I always thought he was a nice guy, but I always thought he was weak on security, very weak on security,” he said.
“When I read that statement, I realised it was a good thing that he was out because he said Iran was not a threat. Iran was a threat. Every country realized what a threat Iran was … So when someone is working with us that says they didn’t think Iran was a threat, we don’t want those people … they’re not smart people. They’re not savvy people.”
Robert Tait contributed reporting
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