Joe Kent resigns as U.S. counterterrorism chief over war, says Iran 'posed no imminent threat'

Joe Kent, the United States’ top counterterrorism official, has resigned in protest over Washington’s military action against Iran, saying he could no longer support a war he believes was launched without an immediate threat to the country.

Kent, who had been serving as director of the National Counterterrorism Centre (NCTC), announced his resignation on Tuesday (Mar. 17) through a post on X, where he also published a letter addressed to U.S. President Donald Trump.

Resignation letter

After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today.

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… pic.twitter.com/prtu86DpEr

— Joe Kent (@joekent16jan19) March 17, 2026

In the letter, Kent wrote: “I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran.”

He added that “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation”, and said that the U.S. had entered the conflict because of “pressure” from "Israel and its powerful American lobby".

Kent’s resignation letter went further, claiming that until June 2025, Trump had recognised wars in the region as “a trap” that cost American lives and weakened the country economically, but had later been persuaded otherwise by “high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media [deploying] a misinformation campaign”.

He wrote:

“This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States."

He urged Trump to reconsider the military campaign, saying the president could still “reverse course and chart a new path for our nation”.

Kent’s resignation makes him one of the highest-ranking Trump administration officials so far to publicly break ranks over the Iran conflict, according to CNN.

Trump says Kent was “weak”

Trump rejected Kent’s claims later on Mar. 17, telling reporters at the White House that his departure was “a good thing”.

“I always thought he was a nice guy, but I always thought he was weak on security,” Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, CNBC reported.

He added that Iran had posed a threat not only to the United States but to other countries as well.

There are many false claims in this letter but let me address one specifically: that "Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation."

This is the same false claim that Democrats and some in the liberal media have been repeating over and over.

As President Trump has clearly and… https://t.co/AC8M5L8lye

— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) March 17, 2026

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also criticised Kent’s remarks, saying Trump had acted based on compelling intelligence and would not deploy military assets without sufficient justification.

She described Kent’s accusation that Israel had influenced Trump’s decision as “insulting and laughable”.

Donald Trump was overwhelmingly elected by the American people to be our President and Commander in Chief. As our Commander in Chief, he is responsible for determining what is and is not an imminent threat, and whether or not to take action he deems necessary to protect the…

— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) March 17, 2026

Tulsi Gabbard, whose office oversees the NCTC, did not directly address Kent’s resignation but said Trump alone was responsible for determining what constituted an imminent threat.

She wrote on X that intelligence agencies had provided the president with the best available information before he made his decision.

Resignation exposes divisions

Kent’s departure has added to visible divisions within Trump’s political base over the Iran war.

Several prominent voices aligned with the MAGA movement, including Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly, have publicly questioned U.S. involvement in the conflict, even as most Republican lawmakers continue to support the administration’s actions, according to CNN.

Kent had also met Vice President JD Vance before submitting his resignation and explained his objections to the war during a meeting that also involved Gabbard.

Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he had opposed Kent’s appointment but agreed with his assessment on Iran.

Warner said:

“But on this point, he is right: there was no credible evidence of an imminent threat from Iran."

At the same time, some Republicans sharply criticised Kent.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said intelligence briefings had clearly indicated Iran was close to nuclear capability, adding that Kent had not been part of those discussions, as cited by CNBC.

Kent’s role and past controversies

Kent, 45, is a former U.S. Army veteran and ex-CIA paramilitary officer who completed 11 combat deployments over two decades.

His first wife, Shannon Kent, a U.S. Navy officer, was killed in a suicide bombing in Syria in 2019.

Trump nominated him to lead the counterterrorism centre in February 2025, as reported by NPR, and the Senate narrowly confirmed him several months later.

His appointment had drawn criticism because of past associations with far-right neo-Nazi figures and conspiracy theories, including repeated support for Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election.

Top image via joekent16jan19/Instagram