Joe Kent, one of the United States’ top counterterrorism officials, announced his resignation on Tuesday, citing his opposition to the Iran war and what he said was Israel’s influence over the Trump administration’s policies.

“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Mr. Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, wrote in a social media post. “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.”

Mr. Kent is the first Trump administration official to quit over the Iran war, and one of the first to explicitly resign citing a significant policy difference.

Joe Kent, a Top U.S. Counterterrorism Official, Resigns Over the Iran War

Mr. Kent is the first Trump administration official to quit in opposition to the conflict. He said pressure from Israel had pushed the president into war against Iran.

By Julian E. Barnes and Robert Draper

Reporting from Washington

March 17, 2026

Updated 10:41 a.m. ET

Joe Kent, one of the United States’ top counterterrorism officials, announced his resignation on Tuesday, citing his opposition to the Iran war and what he said was Israel’s influence over the Trump administration’s policies.

“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Mr. Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, wrote in a social media post. “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.”

Mr. Kent is the first Trump administration official to quit over the Iran war, and one of the first to explicitly resign citing a significant policy difference.

His resignation bluntly exposes how the Iran war is expanding fissures in President Trump’s coalition. Mr. Kent is a close friend of Tucker Carlson, the Trump ally who has emerged as the sharpest critic of the war.

In a brief interview, Mr. Carlson praised Mr. Kent’s resignation.

“Joe is the bravest man I know, and he can’t be dismissed as a nut,” Mr. Carlson said. “He’s leaving a job that gave him access to highest-level relevant intelligence. The neocons will now try to destroy him for that. He understands that and did it anyway.”

Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced on Tuesday that he would resign immediately, citing his opposition to the Iran war.

Mr. Kent has long had a penchant for conspiracy theories, claiming without evidence that intelligence officials had a hand in the violence around the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. And some Republicans were quick to call out Mr. Kent’s remarks on Israel.

Representative Don Bacon, a former brigadier general in the Air Force who serves on the Armed Services Committee, reposted Mr. Kent’s letter with the comment “good riddance.”

“Anti-Semitism is an evil I detest, and we surely don’t want it in our government,” Mr. Bacon wrote on social media.

Mr. Kent’s post included a resignation letter addressed to Mr. Trump, in which he argued that Israeli officials drew the United States into the conflict with Iran.

In the letter, Mr. Kent wrote about what he saw as a “misinformation campaign” by high-ranking Israeli officials and the news media, which he said had undermined Mr. Trump’s “America First platform and sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran.”

A veteran of the Iraq war, Mr. Kent said that the arguments in support of attacking Iran, and promises of a swift victory, echoed the debate over going to war against Iraq in 2003.

Mr. Kent also referred to his late wife Shannon, a military cryptologist killed in Syria.

“As a veteran who deployed to combat 11 times and as a Gold Star husband who lost my beloved wife Shannon in a war manufactured by Israel, 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.

National security experts said Mr. Kent’s resignation made clear that there were significant divisions within the Trump administration over the war.

“Kent’s former experience as a seasoned combat veteran and with U.S. special operations and intelligence elements gave him a unique perspective on the risks and dangers associated with conflicts overseas,” Javed Ali, a former senior U.S. counterterrorism official who now teaches at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, wrote in an email.

Mr. Kent has been a key adviser to Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, and has been advocating inside the administration for a more restrained foreign policy.

Ms. Gabbard is set to appear before the Senate on Wednesday and the House on Thursday for annual hearings on threats to the United States.

Mr. Kent did not respond to a request for comment. He is a twice failed Congressional candidate in Washington State.

Since being nominated as director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Mr. Kent has courted controversy. In a speech on the Senate floor last year, Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Mr. Kent “has aligned himself with political violence, promoted falsehoods that undermine our democracy and tried to twist intelligence to serve a political agenda.”

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5846746&forum_id=2\u0026mark_id=5310486#49750613)

“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Mr. Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, wrote in a social media post. “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.”

Mr. Kent is the first Trump administration official to quit over the Iran war, and one of the first to explicitly resign citing a significant policy difference.

War in the

Middle East

liveUpdates

6m ago

Photos

Maps

Rise of Mojtaba Khamenei

Ground Assault in Lebanon

Strait of Hormuz

Joe Kent, a Top U.S. Counterterrorism Official, Resigns Over the Iran War

Mr. Kent is the first Trump administration official to quit in opposition to the conflict. He said pressure from Israel had pushed the president into war against Iran.

Listen · 4:37 min

Share full article202

A man in a blue suit speaking.

Joe Kent in 2024.Credit...Jenny Kane/Associated Press

Julian E. BarnesRobert Draper

By Julian E. Barnes and Robert Draper

Reporting from Washington

March 17, 2026

Updated 10:41 a.m. ET

Joe Kent, one of the United States’ top counterterrorism officials, announced his resignation on Tuesday, citing his opposition to the Iran war and what he said was Israel’s influence over the Trump administration’s policies.

“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Mr. Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, wrote in a social media post. “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.”

Mr. Kent is the first Trump administration official to quit over the Iran war, and one of the first to explicitly resign citing a significant policy difference.

His resignation bluntly exposes how the Iran war is expanding fissures in President Trump’s coalition. Mr. Kent is a close friend of Tucker Carlson, the Trump ally who has emerged as the sharpest critic of the war.

In a brief interview, Mr. Carlson praised Mr. Kent’s resignation.

“Joe is the bravest man I know, and he can’t be dismissed as a nut,” Mr. Carlson said. “He’s leaving a job that gave him access to highest-level relevant intelligence. The neocons will now try to destroy him for that. He understands that and did it anyway.”

Thumbnail of page 1

Read Joe Kent’s Resignation Letter

Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced on Tuesday that he would resign immediately, citing his opposition to the Iran war.

Read Document

Mr. Kent has long had a penchant for conspiracy theories, claiming without evidence that intelligence officials had a hand in the violence around the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. And some Republicans were quick to call out Mr. Kent’s remarks on Israel.

Representative Don Bacon, a former brigadier general in the Air Force who serves on the Armed Services Committee, reposted Mr. Kent’s letter with the comment “good riddance.”

“Anti-Semitism is an evil I detest, and we surely don’t want it in our government,” Mr. Bacon wrote on social media.

Mr. Kent’s post included a resignation letter addressed to Mr. Trump, in which he argued that Israeli officials drew the United States into the conflict with Iran.

In the letter, Mr. Kent wrote about what he saw as a “misinformation campaign” by high-ranking Israeli officials and the news media, which he said had undermined Mr. Trump’s “America First platform and sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran.”

A veteran of the Iraq war, Mr. Kent said that the arguments in support of attacking Iran, and promises of a swift victory, echoed the debate over going to war against Iraq in 2003.

Mr. Kent also referred to his late wife Shannon, a military cryptologist killed in Syria.

“As a veteran who deployed to combat 11 times and as a Gold Star husband who lost my beloved wife Shannon in a war manufactured by Israel, 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.

National security experts said Mr. Kent’s resignation made clear that there were significant divisions within the Trump administration over the war.

“Kent’s former experience as a seasoned combat veteran and with U.S. special operations and intelligence elements gave him a unique perspective on the risks and dangers associated with conflicts overseas,” Javed Ali, a former senior U.S. counterterrorism official who now teaches at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, wrote in an email.

Mr. Kent has been a key adviser to Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, and has been advocating inside the administration for a more restrained foreign policy.

Ms. Gabbard is set to appear before the Senate on Wednesday and the House on Thursday for annual hearings on threats to the United States.

Mr. Kent did not respond to a request for comment. He is a twice failed Congressional candidate in Washington State.

Since being nominated as director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Mr. Kent has courted controversy. In a speech on the Senate floor last year, Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Mr. Kent “has aligned himself with political violence, promoted falsehoods that undermine our democracy and tried to twist intelligence to serve a political agenda.”

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5846746&forum_id=2\u0026mark_id=5310486#49750629)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5846746&forum_id=2\u0026mark_id=5310486#49751276)

https://x.com/lindseygrahamsc/status/2033934767452737893?s=46

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5846746&forum_id=2\u0026mark_id=5310486#49751280)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5846746&forum_id=2\u0026mark_id=5310486#49751292)

LJLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL mark levin is urging that kent be investigated. LOLOLOLOLOL.

these fucking heeb kikes cannot read a room for anything.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5846746&forum_id=2\u0026mark_id=5310486#49751491)