The surprise departure will be seen as a sign of cracks appearing in Trump’s MAGA base, with many prominent right-wing figures heavily criticising Trump’s bombing of Iran
Donald Trump’s top counterterrorism official dramatically quit today – taking a devastating swipe at the US President’s war in Iran.
Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Centre, said he was resigning because he “cannot in good conscience” back the administration’s war in the Middle East – saying Iran “posed no imminent threat to our nation.”
In a post on social media, he said: “It is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”
His resignation will be seen as a sign of cracks appearing in Trump’s MAGA base, with many prominent right-wing figures heavily criticising Trump’s bombing of Iran.
Kent, who was approved to his post last July despite links to right-wing extremists including the founder of the Proud Boys, was in charge of the agency in place to analyse and detect terrorist threats to the United States.
A former CIA and military officer, Kent ran two unuccessful campaigns for Congress in Washington state before being signed up to join Trump’s administration last year.
His late wife, Shannon – a US Navy linguist and cryptologist – was killed by a suicide bomber in Syria in 2019. She was the first female combat in operations against ISIS in Syria.
During his Senate confirmation hearing, Kent also refused to distance himself from a conspiracy theory that federal agents instigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol, as well as false claims that Trump won the 2020 election over Democrat Joe Biden.
Democrats grilled Kent on his participation in a group chat on Signal that was used by Trump’s national security team to discuss sensitive military plans.
Still, Republicans praised Kent’s counterterrorism qualifications, pointing to his military and intelligence experience.
Sen. Tom Cotton, the GOP chair of the intelligence committee, said in a floor speech that Kent had “dedicated his career to fighting terrorism and keeping Americans safe.”