Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, has resigned from his position in protest of the Trump administration’s war in Iran.
Kent, a top aide to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, announced his resignation effective Tuesday in a post on X.
“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,” Kent wrote.
Kent shared a letter addressed to President Donald Trump stating that while he supports “the values and the foreign policies that you campaigned on in 2016, 2020” and 2024, he did not feel the same about the president’s decision to launch the Iran operation.
“I pray that you will reflect upon what we are doing in Iran, and who we are doing it for. The time for bold action is now. You can reverse course and chart a new path for our nation, or you can allow us to slip further toward decline and chaos. You hold the cards,” he wrote.
Kent is a former Green Beret and two-time GOP congressional hopeful. He was confirmed as the president’s principal counterterrorism adviser by the Senate last summer in a 52-44 vote.
He previously worked as chief of staff to Gabbard.
He served in the Army for two decades and completed nearly a dozen combat deployments.
He received six bronze stars. He later worked as a paramilitary officer for the CIA.
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., responded to Kent’s resignation with “good riddance.”
“Good riddance. Iran has murdered more than a thousand Americans. Their EFP land mines were the deadliest in Iraq. Anti-Semitism is an evil I detest, and we surely don’t want it in our government,” he posted on X.
Kent’s resignation comes two days before Gabbard was scheduled to testify on Capitol Hill for the House Intelligence Committee’s annual worldwide threats assessment hearing. She is due to appear alongside the heads of the CIA, FBI and other intelligence agencies.
