Joseph Kent, director of the US National Counterterrorism Center, resigned on March 17, becoming the first senior Trump administration official to quit over the war in Iran.

Kent, a former Green Beret who served 11 combat deployments in the Middle East, accused the president of being drawn into the conflict under pressure from Israel and its supporters in Washington. He is also a Gold Star husband whose wife Shannon, a Navy cryptologist, was killed by an ISIS suicide bomber in Syria in 2019.

"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 war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby," Kent wrote in a letter to Trump posted on X.

Kent said Israeli officials and pro-war voices in US media had deployed "a misinformation campaign that wholly undermined your America First platform" early in Trump's second term, persuading the president that Iran posed an imminent threat and that a swift military victory was achievable.

"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," he wrote.

Kent urged Trump to reverse course. "The time for bold action is now. You can reverse course and chart a new path for our nation, or you can allow us to slip further toward decline and chaos. You hold the cards," the letter said.

The White House and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, led by Tulsi Gabbard, did not immediately respond. A Trump adviser described Kent as a "crazed egomaniac" who "just wanted to make a splash before getting canned."

Kent had been narrowly confirmed by the Senate in July 2025 on a 52-44 vote. He worked under Gabbard, herself a former vocal critic of military action against Iran who has remained publicly silent since the strikes began on February 28.

At least 13 US service members have been killed since the war began. More than 1,400 people have been killed in Iran, according to the Iranian Red Crescent.