Joseph Kent, the head of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), has resigned in a high-level protest against US President Donald Trump’s military campaign in Iran. Kent, who led the agency for less than eight months, is the most senior official to exit the administration over the conflict, reports Al Jazeera.
In a resignation letter addressed to the president and shared on the social media platform X on Tuesday, Kent stated he could not “in good conscience” endorse the ongoing war.
He asserted that Iran presented “no imminent threat” to the United States and claimed the war was initiated due to “pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby”.
Kent, 45, is a retired US Army Special Forces soldier with 11 combat deployments and a former paramilitary officer for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). His first wife, Shannon Kent, was killed in a suicide bombing in Syria in 2019. Prior to his appointment, he unsuccessfully ran for a congressional seat in Washington state twice as a Republican, losing both times to Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.
The former director was confirmed by the Senate in July by a 52-44 margin, receiving support only from Republicans.
He served under the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, and was considered part of a faction – alongside Gabbard and Vice President JD Vance – that was sceptical of foreign military interventions. However, Gabbard has since distanced herself from the resignation, affirming her support for the president’s campaign in Iran and his authority to determine national threats.
In his letter, Kent argued that Trump had been “deceived” by a “misinformation campaign” involving Israeli officials and the media, which he compared to the tactics used to draw the US into the Iraq war. He urged the president to return to the “America First” platform of avoiding “never-ending wars”.
White House reactions were swift and dismissive. Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump described Kent as a “nice guy” who was “weak on security,” adding, “It’s a good thing that he’s out”.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt termed Kent’s claims “insulting and laughable,” while House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senator Tom Cotton rejected his assessment of the Iranian threat.
Conversely, conservative commentator Tucker Carlson praised Kent as the “bravest man I know,” noting his access to high-level intelligence. Meanwhile, critics such as Representative Don Bacon and Democrat Josh Gottheimer accused Kent of using “antisemitic tropes” and “scapegoating” by blaming Israel for the conflict.
Paul Quirk, a political science professor at the University of British Columbia, noted that while the resignation illustrates Trump acting against the advice of intelligence experts, its impact on policy may be limited unless it triggers wider disillusionment within the President’s base ahead of the midterm elections.
