WASHINGTON: (HRNW) Joseph “Joe” Kent, the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), resigned on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, over the ongoing military conflict with Iran, stating that the country posed no imminent threat to the United States. In a sharply worded resignation letter addressed to President Donald Trump and shared on social media, Kent asserted that he could not “in good conscience” support a war he believes was initiated primarily due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby. A former Green Beret and Gold Star husband who lost his wife to a conflict he described as similarly manufactured, Kent argued that the current war serves no benefit to the American people and is the result of a coordinated misinformation campaign that deceived the administration into believing a swift victory was possible.
President Trump responded to the high-profile departure during an Oval Office meeting, dismissing Kent as “very weak on security” and suggesting that it was a “good thing” he had stepped down because he failed to recognize Iran as a “tremendous threat.” The White House, through Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, further rejected Kent’s claims as “false,” maintaining that the President acted on compelling evidence of an impending Iranian attack to protect American lives. This resignation marks the first major internal fracture in the Trump administration since the start of “Operation Epic Fury,” the joint U.S.-Israeli campaign launched on February 28, 2026, which has since escalated into a broader regional conflict.
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