A high-ranking counterterrorism official in the Trump administration has resigned, citing disagreement with the Iran war and urging the president to “reverse course.”
Director of the National Counterterrorism Center Joe Kent shared his resignation letter on X, stating that Iran did not represent an “no imminent threat” to the United States. He alleged that the Trump administration “started this war due to pressure from Israel” and its influential American lobby.
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
Kent, a 45-year-old veteran of US special forces and the CIA, lost his wife, navy cryptologic technician Shannon Kent, in a 2019 suicide bombing in Syria, according to reporting by the BBC.
The White House has yet to respond to Kent’s departure.
In his letter, Kent also asserted that “high-ranking Israeli officials” and prominent US journalists had spread “misinformation,” leading Trump to deviate from his “America First” platform.
“This echo was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posted an imminent threat to the United States,” the letter continued. “This was a lie.”
