National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent Resigns Citing Opposition to U.S. War in Iran

Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) and a retired Green Beret, announced his immediate resignation on Tuesday, citing his opposition to the ongoing war in Iran. Kent, who was nominated by former President Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate in July 2025, stated that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the United States and criticized the decision to enter the conflict as influenced by external pressures. In a letter addressed to Trump and shared on the social media platform X, Kent wrote, “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.”

As the head of the NCTC, Kent was responsible for overseeing U.S. counterterrorism and counternarcotics efforts, as well as managing intelligence related to terrorist threats. His resignation marks the highest-profile departure from the Trump administration over the Iran conflict. Kent, a veteran with 11 combat deployments during his 20-year Army Special Forces career, also worked at the CIA and has a personal connection to terrorism, having lost his wife, a Navy cryptologist, in a terrorist bombing in Syria in 2019.

Kent’s resignation highlights internal dissent within the administration regarding the war in Iran. He expressed that while he supported Trump’s values during his first term, he believed the president had been unduly influenced by Israeli interests and their American advocates. Kent criticized the war as serving no benefit to the American people and warned against sending future generations to fight in what he described as an unjustified conflict. His stance aligns with that of Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence and a political ally, who has previously voiced criticism of U.S. military interventions abroad but has maintained a low profile since the war began.

Kent’s appointment to the NCTC was part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to place loyalists and politically aligned individuals in key government positions related to intelligence, law enforcement, and diplomacy. His tenure was marked by controversial statements, including referring to rioters as “political prisoners,” and associations with individuals linked to far-right groups. The resignation underscores ongoing tensions within the administration and intelligence community over the direction of U.S. foreign policy and military engagement in the Middle East. This story is developing and further updates are expected.