- NCTC Director Joe Kent resigns over U.S. war with Iran.
- Kent alleges misinformation campaign influenced conflict in resignation letter.
- White House criticises Kent, suggests prior plans to remove him.
- Resignation comes as war enters third week with U.S. casualties.
Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center and the chief advisor on counterterrorism to the president, resigned on Tuesday in a public demonstration of the war with Iran becoming the first senior staff member of the second Trump administration to resign over the war.
In a letter of resignation on X, Kent alleged that Israel had organized the war with the help of a misinformation campaign and asserted that Iran had never threatened the United States with any urgent threat.
In July 2025, Kent, a retired Green Beret, who has completed 11 combat rotations throughout a 20-year career in the Army before joining the CIA as a paramilitary officer, was confirmed to become the NCTC director on a 52-44 vote in the Senate.
The centre recommends to the president and to the Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on the threats of terrorism. A spokesperson of Gabbard was not quick to answer questions regarding his leave. White house too had no direct response to this.
A Gold Star Husband's Rebuke
The resignation has its own significance considering the personal background of Kent. His wife Shannon, a Navy cryptologist was killed in a suicide bombing in Manbij, Syria, in January 2019 - a loss that informed his opposition to what he deems wars made by external powers. Kent used the death of Shannon expressly in the letter.
Also Read: Israel Says It Killed Two Senior Iranian Commanders In Targeted Tehran Strike
Kent packaged his resignation as a call to the core foreign policy instincts in the president as being an appeal to Trump. According to him, he was in support of the values and foreign policies Trump attempted to run in 2016, 2020 and 2024.
He claimed that at the beginning of the administration, senior Israeli officials and key members of the American media had used a misinformation campaign that entirely disparaged the America First scheme of Trump to create a pro-war mood against Iran.
Direct Appeal to the President
"I pray that you will reflect upon what we are doing in Iran, and who we are doing it for. The time for bold action is now. You can reverse course and chart a new path for our nation, or you can allow us to slip further toward decline and chaos. You hold the cards."
- Joe Kent, resignation letter to President Trump, March 17, 2026
White House Fires Back
The reaction of the Trump administration was quick, and close to personal. Trump advisor Taylor Budowich said Kent was an insane egomaniac who was merely out to make a splash and then be canned. The quote posted had implicated the administration in a movement to oust Kent prior to his being released.
Kent has just stepped away when the war enters its third week where US lives are taken and at least 13 US service men are dead by Sunday and domestic political sentiment is growing due to increasing fuel costs. His resignation is an indication that the opposition in the America First element of the Republican alliance is now tapping into even to top administration levels.
