Top counterterrorism official resigns in protest of US war against Iran

Joe Kent said in a post on X, "After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today." 

Kent wrote that in his first term, Trump understood how to "decisively apply military power without getting us drawn into never-ending wars," citing the killing of former Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. 

Prior to the current conflict known as Operation Epic Fury, Kent claimed that "high-ranking Israeli officials" and members of the media had deployed a "misinformation campaign" to "undermine" America First. 

"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 swift victory," Kent said. 

In a statement on X, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard reasserted that Trump is responsible for determining "what is and is not an imminent threat, and whether or not to take action," while avoiding any comment on her interpretation the intelligence related to Iran. 

"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."

Karoline Leavitt wrote on X in response to Kent's departure, "As President Trump has clearly and explicitly stated, he had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first. This evidence was compiled from many sources and factors. President Trump would never make the decision to deploy military assets against a foreign adversary in a vacuum." 

"The President, through his top negotiators, gave the regime every single possible opportunity to abandon this unacceptable course by permanently giving up their nuclear ambitions in exchange for sanctions relief, free nuclear fuel, and potential economic partnerships with our country," Leavitt wrote. "But they would not say yes to peace because obtaining nuclear weapons was their fundamental goal."

The National Counterterrorism Center director reports directly to Gabbard and is a top five intelligence community post in any administration. 

A senior administration official told Fox News Kent was a "known leaker" who "was cut out of (Trump's) intelligence briefings months ago."

The official said the White House told Gabbard that Kent should be fired for suspected leaks, but she did not do so. The official added Kent had not been part of Iran War planning or discussions.

Another official said the White House complained to Gabbard several times about Kent but did not ask for him to be fired. 

Gabbard will testify at the Senate Intelligence Committee's annual worldwide threats hearing Wednesday, where questions on the abrupt departure will likely come up. 

Gabbard, a longtime critic of regime change operations, has been quiet since the Iran conflict. Her office could not immediately be reached for comment on Kent's resignation. 

She recently hired Dan Caldwell, a prominent voice for restraint-minded foreign policy, as an advisor to senior intelligence officials, a source familiar with the move confirmed to Fox News Digital. 

Caldwell was fired from his role as a senior advisor to War Secretary Pete Hegseth during a leak investigation that has not produced public results. 

A former Army Green Beret and CIA paramilitary officer with 11 combat deployments, Kent ran for Congress unsuccessfully in 2022 and 2025 with Trump's backing in the state of Washington before being appointed to his role as counterterrorism chief in early 2025. 

Kent's late wife, Shannon, was a Navy intelligence officer killed in 2019 in an ISIS bombing in Syria. Kent retired from the Army in 2018 and left CIA contracting in 2019 after his wife died. From there, he became an outspoken critic of the war on terror. 

Kent wrote on X Tuesday, "As a veteran who deployed to combat 11 times and as a Gold Star husband who lost my wife Shannon in a war manufactured by Israel, I cannot support sending the next generation to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people or justifies the cost of American lives."

Kent did not reply to a request for additional comment.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Kent was "clearly wrong." 

"I got all the briefings," Johnson told reporters Tuesday. "We all understood there was clearly an imminent threat, that Iran was very close to the enrichment of nuclear capability, and they were building missiles at a pace that no one in the region could keep up with."

In March 2025, Gabbard testified before Congress that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon, before later clarifying that it could do so "within weeks to months." 

"The (intelligence community) continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon," she said before Congress. 

Then, months later, in June 2025, she wrote on X: "America has intelligence that Iran is at the point that it can produce a nuclear weapon within weeks to months, if they decide to finalize the assembly. President Trump has been clear that can't happen, and I agree."

Kent's tenure drew sharp opposition from Democrats during his confirmation, largely over his past political statements and associations, including reported contacts with figures tied to the Jan. 6, 2021, movement and his alignment with election denial rhetoric during his congressional campaigns, but supporters pointed to his extensive combat and intelligence experience. 

Operation Epic Fury is now in its third week, with sustained air and missile exchanges across the region, including Iranian retaliatory strikes against U.S. forces, Israel, and Gulf states. 

While the Trump administration initially signaled the operation could last four to six weeks, officials have acknowledged the timeline could stretch longer as Iran continues to resist, and regional tensions remain high.