U.S. President Donald Trump reacts as he holds a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 30, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Joe Kent, the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned on Tuesday, saying that he doesn't support President Donald Trump's war against 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," he wrote in a resignation post on X.
Kent, a retired Green Beret combat veteran, Gold Star husband, called it an honor to work under DNI Tulsi Gabbard and for the Trump administration. He noted that he deployed 11 times.
"'I support the values and the foreign policies that you campaigned on in 2016, 2020, 2024, which you enacted in your first term," wrote Kent. "Until June 2025, you understood that the wars in the Middle East were a trip that robbed America of the precious lives of our patriots and depleted the wealth and prosperity of our nation."
"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," he continued in the resignation letter.
ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl couldn't help but note that it's been a rare occurrence to see an angry resignation by a Trump official.
"Something we have rarely seen during the Trump era: a senior official resigning in protest — in this case, resigning to protest the war against Iran," he wrote on X.
Trump began strikes on Iran at the end of February and pledged that he would be done soon. When asked about details, he said he would end the war when "I feel it in my bones."