President Donald Trump’s top counterterrorism adviser, Joe Kent, resigned from his post less than a year after taking office in protest of the ongoing US-Israel-Iran war.
Kent’s announcement on Tuesday, March 17, that he is resigning as director of the US National Counterterrorism Center marks the first resignation by a senior Trump administration official over the war, which has entered its third week with no clear end in sight.
In a letter to Trump explaining his decision posted on social media, Kent said Iran did not pose a serious threat to the United States prior to the Feb. 28 joint U.S.-Israel attack that started the war.
“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Kent said in a statement. “Iran is not an immediate threat to our country and it is clear that we started this war under pressure from Israel and its powerful US lobby.”
In response, President Trump said on Tuesday, March 17, that he thought Kent was a “good person,” but criticized the counterterrorism chief as “very weak when it comes to national security.”
“When I read the statement, saying Iran was not a threat, I knew it was a good thing for me to resign,” Trump said. “Iran was a threat.”
When asked for comment on Kent’s letter, Delin Sousa, a spokesperson for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, told USA TODAY that the U.S. military is “valiantly” defending Israel from the Iranian regime.
Here’s what you need to know about Kent following his resignation.
Who is former counterterrorism chief Joe Kent?
Kent, whose full name is Joseph, is a native of Oregon and a graduate of Norwich University, where he studied strategic defense analysis, according to his official bio. He served in the U.S. Army for 20 years and completed 11 combat deployments, many in the Middle East.
Kent joined the Army at age 18, starting as an infantryman, then joining the Ranger Regiment and then Special Forces, also known as the Green Berets. In an entry on the political action committee’s website related to his candidacy for Congress, Kent wrote that he “volunteered into combat at every opportunity” after 9/11.
Kent received six Bronze Stars during his service. After retiring from the Army in 2018, he served as a paramilitary officer at the CIA’s Special Activities Center.
Kent served as Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s chief of staff in early 2025 before becoming director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center a few months later.
His confirmation in July 2025 was met with pushback from dozens of civil rights groups and progressive organizations, including the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Western States Center. In a June letter to Sens. John Thune and Chuck Schumer, 48 national, state and local organizations opposed his nomination, citing a lack of preparation and a history of pro-conspiracy statements regarding the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Kent said his resignation is effective immediately in a March 17 letter to Trump outlining his opposition to the U.S.-Israel war with Iran. His tenure as the country’s top counterterrorism official lasted less than eight months.
Joe Kent’s wife Shannon Kent killed in ISIS bombing
Kent’s first wife, Shannon Kent, was killed in an ISIS suicide bombing in Syria in 2019.
Kent co-authored a book, Send Me: The True Story of a Mother at War, about her life and career as a naval cryptologist, and has spoken frequently in interviews over the years about the impact of her death and her experiences in active combat zones. Three other Americans and more than a dozen civilians and coalition forces were killed in the ISIS bombing. The bombing targeted a street in Manbij in northeastern Syria that is frequented by American and coalition forces.
Kent cited Shannon’s death in a letter to Trump announcing his resignation from his counterterrorism post.
“I cannot support sending the next generation to fight and die in a war that is of no benefit to the American people and that does not justify the cost of American lives,” Kent wrote.
Joe Kent and Shannon Kent had two sons. Ken married Heather Kaiser, an artist and military veteran, in 2023.
2-time Republican Congressional Candidate
In an August 2024 podcast, Kent said he turned his attention to national issues during his transition from active duty, shortly after the death of his first wife. He told host Ryan Shaw that he was particularly motivated to run because of disagreements over the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, unrest in Portland during the pandemic, and anger at some Republicans who voted to impeach President Trump during his first term.
Kent has twice run for the 3rd Congressional District in western Washington, presenting himself as a conservative, pro-Trump candidate. He lost to Democrat Marie Grusenkamp Perez in both 2022 and 2024.
Both sides of Kent State were embroiled in controversy. In 2022, the Associated Press reported that he hired a campaign consultant who was a member of the Proud Boys. In a 2025 Mother Jones report, Kent reportedly said on a podcast that Black Lives Matter and Antifa should be treated “like terrorist organizations.”
Kathryn Palmer is USA TODAY’s political reporter. She can be reached at the following address: kapalmer@usatoday.com And to X@Kathryn Purml. Sign up for her daily politics newsletter here.
