WA’s Joe Kent leaving Trump administration over war in Iran

Kent resigned his top intelligence role after opposing U.S. involvement in Iran, criticizing both the administration's policy and claims of an imminent Iranian threat. — Kent resigned his top intelligence role after opposing U.S. involvement in Iran, criticizing both the administration’s policy and claims of an imminent Iranian threat. File photo

In response to Kent’s departure, President Trump told reporters Tuesday that he ‘always thought he was a nice guy, but I always thought he was weak on security’

Jake Goldstein-Street
Washington State Standard

Joe Kent, the former congressional candidate from southwest Washington, is leaving his post as the Trump administration’s top counterterrorism official, saying he opposes the war in Iran.

“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Kent wrote on social media early Tuesday. “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.”

Kent, who was confirmed last July, goes on to write that he had supported President Donald Trump’s “America First” foreign policy agenda that balked at intervention in the Middle East.

In response to Kent’s departure, Trump told reporters Tuesday that he “always thought he was a nice guy, but I always thought he was weak on security.”

“It’s a good thing that he’s out because he said Iran was not a threat,” Trump said in the Oval Office.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also blasted Kent’s allegation that Israel pressured Trump as “absurd.”

“As President Trump has clearly and explicitly stated, he had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first,” Leavitt wrote on X.

“As someone who actually witnesses President Trump’s decision-making process on a daily basis, I can attest to the fact that he is always looking to do what’s in the best interest of the United States of America — period,” she continued.

Kent was confirmed last July as director of the National Counterterrorism Center. His resignation takes effect immediately. His decision marks a high-profile departure from the Trump administration over the ongoing conflict in Iran that began late last month.

The first U.S. service member from Washington died in the war in a refueling tanker crash in Iraq, the administration announced over the weekend.

In his role, Kent oversaw a staff of more than 1,000 and reported to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. His agency was established in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Both of Washington’s Democratic senators ardently opposed his nomination. At the time, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray called him “patently unqualified.”

In an X post Tuesday, she said “Good riddance to Joe Kent, a disgraceful white supremacist, but that’s a major public admission that there was NO justification for this war.”

Kent’s position against foreign intervention stems from his own experience serving as a former Green Beret on nearly a dozen tours of duty, mainly in Iraq. His wife Shannon died in a suicide bombing in Syria in 2019.

He got involved in politics after his wife’s death, running twice for Congress in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District and embracing Trump’s agenda.

In his first race, Kent, who lived in Clark County, ousted incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler in the primary. But he lost to Democratic U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez both times in the general election.

Kent previously served as a foreign policy adviser to Trump’s presidential campaign in 2020.

Since joining his administration, Kent has gotten into hot water.

Last year, he was one of the members of a Signal group chat in which top officials reportedly shared classified information about plans for military action in Yemen, with a journalist also in the chat.

He also reportedly pressed intelligence analysts to revise an assessment documenting links between the Venezuelan government and the Tren de Aragua gang to better align with Trump’s policies.

“I cannot 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,” Kent wrote in his resignation letter to Trump.

In his letter, Kent pleaded with Trump to change his approach, writing that “you hold the cards.”

“I pray that you will reflect upon what we are doing in Iran, and who we are doing it for,” Kent wrote. “The time for bold action is now.”

This report was first published by the Washington State Standard.