US Counterterrorism Center Director Resigns "Opposed US-Iran War": Iran Has No Threat, Israel Deceived Us into War

According to the latest report by foreign media Axios, Joe Kent, the chief of staff and intelligence director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), announced his resignation. He becomes the first senior official in the Trump administration to resign over opposition to the “U.S.-Iran war.” In his resignation letter, Kent sharply accused that the war was entirely based on Israeli pressure and misinformation, and that Iran does not pose an “imminent threat” to the United States at all.
(Background: Trump requested a one-month delay for the China-U.S. summit, and the Iran conflict caused Polymarket’s probability to plummet from 75% to 5%)
(Additional context: Trump acknowledged Iran’s retaliation was beyond expectations, hinting at a re-engagement in the Hark Island conflict; Europe refused to escort, and the Homs alliance is in turmoil)

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• “Iran is not a threat; this is a misled war”
• The blood and tears of the Gold Star families, calling on Trump to change course
• Trump’s camp strongly responds: he’s just an egotist

The conflict between the U.S. and Iran has not only shaken global financial markets but also ignited a political bomb within Washington’s power core. According to Axios, Joe Kent, the director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), has officially submitted his resignation, becoming the first high-ranking Trump official to publicly step down amid this conflict.

“Iran is not a threat; this is a misled war”

In his strongly worded resignation letter, Kent expressed clear disappointment with current foreign policy. He stated:

“Honestly, I cannot support the ongoing Iran war. Iran does not pose an imminent threat to our country. It’s obvious that the war was initiated due to pressure from Israel and its powerful U.S. lobbying groups.”

He further accused high-level Israeli officials and influential figures within U.S. media of orchestrating a “misinformation campaign” early in the Trump administration, undermining Trump’s original “America First” policy of non-intervention abroad.

“This echo chamber was used to deceive you (referring to Trump), making you believe Iran posed an immediate threat to the U.S., and that striking now would lead to quick victory. That’s a lie, reminiscent of the strategy used by Israel to drag us into the disastrous Iraq war,” Kent wrote.

Blood and tears of the Gold Star families, calling on Trump to change course

The power of this resignation letter lies in Kent’s background. He is not only a former U.S. Army Special Forces soldier and a CIA paramilitary officer but also a veteran deployed to war zones 11 times. More painfully, he is a “Gold Star husband,” whose wife Shannon tragically died in a war he describes as “manufactured by Israel.”

Kent emphasized that he has always supported Trump’s anti-war values promised during the 2016, 2020, and 2024 campaigns, but current developments are pushing America toward the abyss. “I cannot support sending the next generation to fight a war that benefits no one and that costs American lives for no justifiable reason,” he said. He urged Trump to change course, warning that otherwise, the U.S. would slide into decline and chaos.

Trump’s camp strongly responds: he’s just an egotist

Kent’s resignation sent shockwaves through Washington politics and immediately drew fierce criticism from Trump’s camp. Axios reports that while the White House and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence have not officially responded, Trump’s senior advisor and former White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich publicly attacked.

Budowich called Kent a “crazed egomaniac,” implying that his dramatic resignation was merely because “he knew he was about to be fired, so he wanted to create some buzz before leaving.”