Joe Kent resigned in protest against the Iran War.Image: www.imago-images.de
Joe Kent resigned as head of the US counterterrorism headquarters in protest against Donald Trump’s war in Iran. Now he continues to criticize the US government in an interview – at the same time the FBI has started investigating him. An overview.
Mar 19, 2026, 10:48Mar 19, 2026, 10:48
On Tuesday, US politician Joe Kent made international headlines: The Republican resigned as head of the US counterterrorism center in protest against Donald Trump’s war in Iran. “I cannot support this war in good conscience,” said Kent on X.
On Wednesday, Kent spoke for the first time in an interview about the background to his resignation – with the controversial US journalist Tucker Carlson. For a long time he was considered a great friend of Trump, but recently went on a collision course with the US President regarding the Iran war. In the interview, Kent explained his motivations – an overview.
“No indications” of a threat from Iran
The US government repeatedly presents the attack in Iran as a necessary act of self-defense. Foreign Secretary Marco Rubio said, for example, that, knowing about an attack by Israel, it was assumed that Iran would counterattack on US targets. Trump himself also portrayed Iran as a direct threat to the USA. The immediate threats posed by the Iranian regime must be eliminated, he argued.
Kent, however, says there was no such threat. “There was no intelligence information whatsoever that such an attack could occur on any given day,” Kent said.
He also said that the nuclear threat from Iran was not particularly great. On the contrary: the killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei reduced the country’s nuclear program. “I’m not a fan of Khamenei, but he prevented Iran from getting nuclear weapons,” Kent said. Iran did not plan to give up its nuclear program completely. But he definitely wasn’t close to building an atomic bomb.
Ali Khamenei did not pose a direct threat to the US, says Kent.Image: keystone
Trump hardly allowed any counter-speech
Another point of criticism from Kent is that Donald Trump hardly allowed any objection to his decision. “Many important decision-makers were not allowed to express their opinions,” said Kent in an interview with Carlson.
According to Kent, discussions about an attack in Iran have already taken place. However, these were held behind closed doors and no dissenting opinions were allowed.
A senior White House official confirmed to CNNthat Kent had actually been barred from attending the president’s intelligence briefings. Including those that referred to Iran.
Donald Trump is said to have stopped allowing dissenting votes in the Iran debate.Image: keystone
The reasons for his resignation
As in his post on X, Kent stated that he could not support the war in Iran. He justified the timing of his departure by saying that he had the feeling that this was the only way he could be heard.
“I realized over the weekend that my message just wasn’t getting across,” says Kent. If he had stayed in office, he could have continued to try to achieve something. In his opinion, he could hardly have achieved anything with it. “My chances of taking action are being suppressed even before my opinion reaches the White House,” said the Republican.
His departure also gave him the opportunity to talk to Trump. This was “very respectful and friendly”. “It wasn’t the best conversation ever, but it went relatively well,” he said. At least he was able to explain his point of view to him. “He listened to me,” Kent said. He assumes that the separation was amicable and hopes to have another conversation with the President.
Joe Kent saw resignation as the last option.Image: keystone
FBI starts investigation
On the same day as Kent’s interview, trouble was brewing for the former counterterrorism chief. As US media reports, the FBI is now investigating the 45-year-old. He is suspected of having passed on secret information. a source said NBC Newsthat the investigation had already been planned before Kent’s resignation.
Who is Joe Kent exactly?
Joe Kent was appointed counterterrorism chief by Donald Trump in 2025. Before becoming a politician, he was a soldier himself and completed eleven combat missions, many of them in Iraq. In 2019, Kent’s first wife, Shannon Smith, was killed in a suicide bombing while on duty in the Syrian city of Manbij. Kent subsequently wrote columns for various media outlets in which he spoke out in favor of US anti-terror operations in the Middle East.
Joe Kent is facing accusations of anti-Semitism for his recent comments. He already wrote in his X-Post that the USA had attacked Iran under pressure from Israel and spoke of a “powerful Israeli lobby” in the USA. Kent also made allegations against Israel in his interview with Carlson.
With this rhetoric, Kent also met with criticism within his party: Republican Senator Mitch McConnell wrote on social media that Kent’s post contained “virulent anti-Semitism.” “Isolationists and anti-Semites have no place in our party and our government,” said McConnell.
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
When it comes to foreign policy, both Kent and Carlson belong to the isolationist wing of the Republican Party. This is divided by the Iran war: While many support the war for security reasons, others argue that Trump would thereby break his central election promise: politics with American needs at the center. (dab)