US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said it was “a good thing” that Joe Kent stepped down as director of the US National Counterterrorism Centre, taking a sharp dig at the outgoing official’s stance on security and Iran.

Earlier, Joe Kent, who was serving as director of the US National Counterterrorism Centre, resigned from his post and urged US President Donald Trump to rethink the country’s path in the ongoing war with Iran.

US counterterrorism official quits over Iran war

In a letter shared on X, Kent made his position clear. He said Iran posed “no imminent threat” to the United States and claimed the administration “started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby”.

He went further, writing that “high-ranking Israeli officials” and influential US journalists had spread “misinformation” that pushed Trump away from his “America First” approach.

ALSO READ

“This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States,” Kent wrote. “This was a lie.”

The White House was quick enough to reject Kent’s claims. Officials said the president had solid reasons for his decision. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called Kent’s suggestion “insulting and laughable”.

“As President Trump has clearly and explicitly stated, he had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first,” she said. Tulsi Gabbard also backed the president. She said it is the commander-in-chief’s job to decide what counts as an imminent threat, adding that Trump acted after carefully reviewing all available information.

Who is Joe Kent?

Kent, 45, has been a long-time supporter of Trump. He is a decorated US special forces and CIA veteran. He ran for Congress twice but lost both times. His nomination to the counterterrorism role had been tight, with Democrats raising concerns over his past actions, including hiring a member of the far-right Proud Boys as a consultant during his 2022 campaign.

During his confirmation hearings, Kent also stood by claims that federal agents played a role in the January 2021 US Capitol riot and that Trump had not lost the 2020 election.

Kent spoke about his personal experiences in his resignation letter. His wife, Shannon Kent, a Navy cryptologic technician, was killed in a suicide bombing in Syria in 2019. He later left government service for a time after her death. “As a veteran who deployed to combat 11 times and as a Gold Star husband who lost my beloved wife Shannon in a war manufactured by Israel, I cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people nor justifies the cost of American lives.”

ALSO READ

In the resignation letter, he also highlighted his own military background, having deployed 11 times overseas, including missions in Iraq with US Army special forces, before later working as a paramilitary officer at the CIA.

Explaining his decision, Kent wrote, “I cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people nor justifies the cost of American lives”.

“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 wrote.

Trump reacts: ‘A good thing he’s out’

Speaking at the Oval Office, Trump reacted to Kent’s exit. He called him a “nice guy” but said he was “weak on security”. He also said Kent’s resignation letter made him realise “it was a good thing that he’s out”. Trump added that officials who don’t agree with the importance of attacking Iran are not needed, saying, “We don’t want those people.”

Later, Trump told reporters, “I always thought he was a nice guy, but I also believed he was weak on security—very weak… When I read his statement, I realised it’s a good thing he’s out, because he said that Iran was not a threat. Iran was a threat—every country realised that…”

At the National Counterterrorism Centre, Kent worked under Gabbard and handled global threat analysis and detection. With his exit, he becomes the most senior official so far in Trump’s administration to publicly criticise the US-Israeli military action against Iran.

Despite this, the administration has stood firm on its position, showing no signs of changing course.