Who Is Joe Kent, Trump's Pick To Fight Terrorism Who Quit Over Iran War

Joesph Kent, the director of the United States' National Counterterrorism Centre, has resigned, saying he cannot support the Trump administration's military campaign against Iran and that the war was started not out of genuine necessity, but due to pressure from Israel.

Joe Kent announced his resignation on Tuesday on X (formerly Twitter). Kent said that 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."

He added that he "cannot in good conscience" continue backing the administration's war effort, making him one of the most senior figures within Trump's own government to break publicly with the Iran campaign.

Who Is Joe Kent?

Joseph Clay Kent, born on 11 April 1980 in Oregon, is an ex-military official. He served in the US Army from 1998 to 2018, completing 11 combat deployments with units including the 75th Ranger Regiment and Army Special Forces. After retiring from military service, he moved into the CIA.

In 2019, his wife, Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Shannon Kent, was killed in a suicide bombing while she was serving in Syria, a conflict he has described as manufactured by Israel in his resignation letter.

After leaving government service, Kent ran two unsuccessful campaigns for Congress in Washington state before Trump nominated him to lead the National Counterterrorism Center in February 2025. At the time of his appointment, Trump wrote on Truth Social that "Joe will help keep America sade by eradicating all terrorrism, from the jihadists around the world to the cartels in our backyard."

The Senate confirmed his appointment in July 2025 on a 52 to 44 vote.

Democrats strongly opposed his appointment, pointing to his associations with far-right figures and his history of promoting conspiracy theories. During his Senate confirmation hearing, he declined to distance himself from the claim that federal agents had instigated the January 6 Capitol attack, and he also refused to acknowledge that Trump had lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden.