Who is Joe Kent, and why did he resign as Trump’s counterterrorism chief?

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One of the top counterterrorism officials in the United States, Joe Kent, has resigned over his country’s war against Iran.

On Tuesday, he published a copy of his resignation letter on the social media platform X, addressing his correspondence to US President Donald Trump.

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

“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.”

Until this week, Kent served as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, the US agency responsible for coordinating and analysing terrorism intelligence.

The resignation marks the highest-profile rebuke yet of the war effort from within the Trump administration.

Here is what to know about Kent’s resignation and its fallout:

Kent, 45, is a former political candidate who has faced scrutiny over past connections to far-right activists.

He is a former soldier with the US Army Special Forces who completed 11 combat deployments, including tours during the US-led war in Iraq.

His first wife, Shannon Kent, a US Navy cryptologic technician, was killed in Syria in 2019 in a suicide bombing; she left behind two children.

After leaving the military, Kent worked as a paramilitary officer for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) before launching a political career.

Twice, he campaigned as a Republican to represent southwestern Washington state in the US Congress. But both times, in 2022 and 2024, he was defeated by centrist Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.

Trump had endorsed Kemp in both races, though the candidate was dogged by controversies, including that he paid a member of the far-right group Proud Boys a consulting fee.

Kent had been head of the National Counterterrorism Center for less than eight months.

In July, the Senate voted to confirm him by a margin of 52 to 44, with support only from Republicans.

Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, was Kent’s boss during his time in the Trump administration.

She was among the first to celebrate his confirmation in July, describing him as a “patriot” and highlighting his experience as a combat veteran.

“His experience serving as the tip of the spear in some of the world’s most dangerous battlefields has given him a deep, practical understanding of the enduring and evolving threat of Islamist terrorism,” she wrote.

Gabbard, Kent and Vice President JD Vance were seen as part of a faction within the Trump administration that is more sceptical of US military intervention abroad.

Last week, Trump told reporters that Vance had been “maybe less enthusiastic” about striking Iran, but he added that “we get along very well on this”.

For her part, Gabbard distanced herself from Kent’s resignation in a post on Tuesday that emphasised her support for Trump’s campaign in Iran.

“Donald Trump was overwhelmingly elected by the American people to be our President and Commander in Chief,” she wrote, without naming Kent.

“As our Commander in Chief, he is responsible for determining what is and is not an imminent threat.”

As a military veteran, Kent said he was concerned about the risk of another major war in the Middle East.

In his resignation letter, Kent explained that he supported the foreign policy agenda Trump championed during his last three presidential campaigns.

Kent pointed out that Trump had pledged to keep the US out of “never-ending wars”, like those that had unfolded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Until June 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,” Kent wrote.

But he argued that Trump had been misled about the threat posed by Iran. He blamed members of the media, as well as high-ranking Israeli officials and lobbyists, for prompting Trump to abandon his America First agenda.

“This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and that if you struck now, there was a clear path to a swift victory,” Kent said.

“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 cited the loss of his wife, Shannon, in US combat operations in Syria as an example of the stakes.

Paul Quirk, a political science professor at the University of British Columbia, said Kent’s departure serves as an illustration of how Trump’s actions go “against the advice of the relevant military, intelligence and foreign affairs experts in government”.

But Quirk added that he is sceptical as to how much impact Kent alone will have on Trump’s decision-making.

“Normally, a high-level resignation, along with explicit contradiction of the president’s rationale for a major decision, would be a major blow to the president and his administration,” Quirk told Al Jazeera.

“It would prompt co-partisans in Congress to challenge the president’s decision and withdraw or qualify their support.”

But in this case, Kent’s resignation comes amid already intense criticism of the administration’s campaign in Iran.

“Kent’s statement is merely a substantial addition to what was already a mountain of evidence that Trump’s rationale for attacking Iran was fictitious, and that the war was launched recklessly, without planning,” Quirk said.

“It’s possible that Kent’s resignation could have a dramatic impact on support for Trump and the war, but it would be a matter of ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’.”

While Kent’s resignation is unlikely to change US military strategy, analysts say it could carry political consequences.

Fewer than eight months remain before the pivotal midterm elections. Backlash to Trump’s policies could harm his fellow Republicans at the polls.

Al Jazeera correspondent Mike Hanna noted that Kent maintains a high profile within Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) base.

Kent’s criticism of the president could therefore be a bellwether for wider disillusionment among Trump’s followers.

“Kent’s criticism of the US-Israel war on Iran is very significant because he is not an average Trump-appointee bureaucrat figure,” Hanna said.

“He’s a veteran who has done several tours in special forces and has always been an avid supporter of Trump and the MAGA movement. A figure like this accusing Israel of influencing Trump to enter the war with false information is a very damning statement that could affect support for the president among parts of the right-wing community.”

Kent’s letter has divided Republicans. Some supported his resignation as a principled stand, while others denounced him as ill-informed and disloyal to the president.

Kent received a sharp response from Trump himself, who addressed the resignation during an appearance in the Oval Office on Tuesday.

“I always thought he was a nice guy, but I always thought he was weak on security,” Trump told reporters. “It’s a good thing that he’s out because he said Iran was not a threat.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt likewise dismissed Kent’s claims as “both insulting and laughable”.

Meanwhile, in Congress, House Speaker Mike Johnson called Kent “clearly wrong” in his assessment that Iran posed no imminent threat to the US. That was a rationale Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas echoed.

“Kent and his family have sacrificed greatly for our nation, and I thank him for his service,” Cotton wrote in a statement. “But I disagree with his misguided assessment.”

Conservative media commentator Tucker Carlson, however, praised Kent’s decision.

“Joe is the bravest man I know, and he can’t be dismissed as a nut,” Carlson said in a New York Times interview. “He’s leaving a job that gave him access to the highest-level relevant intelligence. The neo-cons will try to destroy him for that.”

“He understands that and did it anyway,” he added.

Some critics highlighted lines in Kent’s letter that blame Israel for Trump’s decision to strike Iran.

They claimed such remarks are anti-Semitic, painting Israeli leaders as a malevolent force responsible for manipulating Trump with lies.

Representative Don Bacon, a former US Air Force brigadier general who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, was among the critics who took up that line of argument.

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

Democrat Josh Gottheimer likewise accused Kent of “scapegoating” Israel and engaging in a “tired antisemitic trope”.

“Kent’s reduction of Iran to ‘Israel’s fault’ isn’t leadership,” he wrote. “It’s bigoted deflection.”

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 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.

In your first administration, you understood better than any modern President how to decisively apply military power without getting us drawn into never-ending wars. You demonstrated this by killing Qasam Solamani and by defeating ISIS.

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.

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.

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.

It was an honor to serve in your administration and to serve our great nation.

Director, National Counterterrorism Center