By Robert Weiner and Emma Paris
Don't bury this headline: Donald Trump's Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Joseph Kent, announced his resignation with a statement that Iran posed "no imminent threat" as a basis for war. He declared in his resignation letter, "I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran." He said. "Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation." The letter reminds us of chief UN weapons inspector David Kay's statement in 2004, "We were all wrong" about Saddam Hussein and Iraq having weapons of mass destruction as well as U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell alleging that Iraq had WMDs to the U.N., but later said that "will always be a blot" and "a painful part of my record."
Kent was a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump and his "America First" agenda. He was nominated by Trump in February 2025. Trump declared on X, "It is my pleasure to nominate Joe Kent as the Director of the National Counter Terrorism Center. As a soldier, Green Beret and CIA officer, Joe has hunted down terrorists and criminals his entire adult life. Above all, Joe knows the terrible cost of terrorism, losing his wonderful wife, Shannon, a great American Hero, who was killed in the fight against ISIS. Joe continues to honor her legacy by staying in the fight. Joe will help us keep America safe by eradicating all terrorism, from the jihadists around the World, to the cartels in our backyard." It is "rich" that today Trump responded to Kent's resignation and letter by asserting, "I always thought he was weak on security."
His departure is the highest-profile defection from the Trump administration since the launch of Operation Epic Fury on February 28. Kent further compares the current war with Iran to the war with Iraq as a "misinformation campaign" and the same tactic 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 concludes, condemning Trump, reflecting how he "lost [his] beloved wife Shannon in war" and there was no way he could "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." He said to President Trump, "You hold the cards."
Kent's statement today could be as historic and significant as Powell's in 2003. Both quotes show that even the most trusted leaders can be pressured into supporting a war that turns out to be a mistake.
Looking back at these warnings is important because it shows that when leaders ignore their own experts or use weak information to start a war, it leads to a painful mistake on their record.
As the leading ranked national security official, this sudden resignation raises serious questions and concerns about present U.S. foreign policy decisions. In light of this, Fox News reported Trump saying that Kent's resignation was a "good thing."
The fact that the President is now attacking a leader he personally chose for such an important job shows a major, confusing split between the White House and the experts he hired to keep the country safe. In addition, the White House Press must be more aggressive in their follow-ups and not allow a weak, self-serving response, essentially "he didn't have the capacity to know what he was talking about." Ultimately, if the White House keeps ignoring its own intelligence, it is American soldiers who will pay the price.
TV networks and major print media must not bury this story and should make Kent's courage and substantive statement the lead and the subject of featured interviews.
Robert Weiner is a former spokesman in the Clinton and Bush White Houses and senior staff for Congressmen John Conyers, Charles Rangel, Claude Pepper, Ed Koch, Sen. Ted Kennedy, and 4-Star Gen. Barry McCaffrey.
Emma Paris is a Policy and Research Analyst at Robert Weiner Associates and the Solutions for Change foundation.
Griffin Cobb assisted in this article.
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