A top security official in US President Donald Trump's administration resigned over the war in Iran on Tuesday, saying the country had posed no imminent threat to the United States.
Joe Kent, who headed the National Counterterrorism Center, is the first senior official in Trump's administration to resign over the conflict, now in its third week.
"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 in a letter posted to social media.
Previously Kent had been a staunch supporter of Trump through his 2020 election defeat, the January 6 riots and years of conservative media advocacy and failed congressional bids.
The 45-year-old special forces combat veteran with ties to right-wing extremists was considered as much of a loyalist as Trump could have in the government's top counterterrorism post.
Kent has previously echoed a conspiracy theory that federal agents had somehow instigated the January 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol, as well as false claims that Trump won the 2020 election over President Joe Biden. He’s also called for defunding the FBI after the search at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home for classified documents.
Here's what to know about Kent's departure:
Right-wing ties
In his resignation letter to Trump, Kent said that “high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign ... to encourage a war with Iran".
His reference to Israel and claims about Jewish Americans' political influence highlight Kent's previous ties to antisemitism and right-wing extremism.
Kent has acknowledged ties with popular right-wing, anti-semitic influencer Nick Fuentes, and he paid Graham Jorgensen, a member of the far-right military group the Proud Boys, for consulting work in 2022. He also worked closely with Joey Gibson, the founder of the Christian nationalist group Patriot Prayer, and attracted support from a variety of far-right figures.
Kent later disavowed some of his right-wing ties and said he rejected all “racism and bigotry".
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'America First'
Kent has long been known for his "America First" beliefs and has said he opposes US military interventions abroad.
A former Green Beret, Kent was deployed to 11 combat missions, mostly in Iraq, during 20 years in the army.
After his retirement in 2018, he became a paramilitary officer with the CIA and served as a counterterrorism adviser to Trump’s 2020 presidential re-election campaign. He was a regular on conservative cable shows and podcasts before and during his 2022 and 2024 congressional bids.
Kent's first wife, Shannon Smith, was a Navy cryptologist killed by a suicide bomber in 2019 while fighting the Islamic State group in Syria.
After Smith's death, Kent spoke out against US intervention around the world.
“That is why I have a scepticism of our federal government,” he said of his wife's death, adding that she died because “Republicans and Democrats consistently lied to the American people to keep us engaged in wars abroad.”
A political turnaround
Kent is close with Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, whose office oversaw Kent’s work. Gabbard wrote in a social media post Tuesday that it was up to Trump to decide whether Iran posed a threat.
"After carefully reviewing all the information before him, President Trump concluded that the terrorist Islamist regime in Iran posed an imminent threat and he took action based on that conclusion," Gabbard said.
Trump was effusive when he nominated Kent to lead the National Counterterrorism Center in February 2025.
“Joe will help us keep America safe by eradicating all terrorism, from the jihadists around the World, to the cartels in our backyard,” Trump said on social media.
Last year, Kent pushed intelligence analysts to rework an assessment on Tren De Aragua, a Venezuelan gang, that did not support the White House's argument that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was directing its operations.
The administration had portrayed the gang as a security threat to justify its immigration crackdown.
The announcement of Kent's resignation on Tuesday came as a surprise, one US official said.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AP)
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