Trump’s Counterterrorism chief resigns citing Israeli lobby

Joe Kent, Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned on Tuesday, saying that the war on Iran was started due to ‘pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby‘ and he could not support it in “good conscience.”

After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today.

I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this… pic.twitter.com/prtu86DpEr

— Joe Kent (@joekent16jan19) March 17, 2026

Kent wrote to Trump:

This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States,” . “This was a lie and is the same tactic the Israelis used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war that cost our nation the lives of thousands of our best men and women.

Joe Kent is a Gold Star husband; his wife Shannon was killed in 2019 while serving as a CIA officer in Syria — another illegal war by the USA. Kent said the war was also “manufactured by Israel.”

Kent said high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media mounted a “misinformation campaign” that undermined Trump’s America First platform and “sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran.”

Iranian American Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute retweeted Kent’s resignation, saying, “This is big”.

This is BIG! https://t.co/qTVhLBrkue

— Trita Parsi (@tparsi) March 17, 2026

Republicans who have been critical of Trump’s illegal war celebrated the move by Kent.

MAGA podcaster Auron MacIntyre said Kent had paid a dear price for his service.

Kent is a highly respected MAGA veteran who has paid a dear price of his service

The letter claiming that the war was manufactured by Israel is particularly brutal https://t.co/FQ6K1RZuqt

— Auron MacIntyre (@AuronMacintyre) March 17, 2026

Another MAGA podcaster David J. Reilly, said: “God Bless you, man.”

Maybe we were too hard on @joekent16jan19…

God bless you man. https://t.co/g1KGomzYa3

— David J. Reilly 🇺🇸 (@realDaveReilly) March 17, 2026

There was some criticism of Kent for his complicity in imperialism, too.