Resignation of US intel official over Iran 'good thing': Trump Estelle.Bronkhorst Wed, 03/18/2026 - 06:55 WASHINGTON - A senior US counterterrorism official who resigned to protest the Iran war was "very weak on security" and it's a "good thing" that he stepped down, President Donald Trump said. Joseph Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), resigned on Tuesday, saying he "cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran". Kent -- a former member of the Green Beret special forces who served multiple combat tours -- said "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". Trump said that when he saw Kent's resignation statement, "I realised that it's a good thing that he's out." READ: Senior US counterterrorism official resigns to protest Iran war White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back against what she called "false claims" in Kent's resignation letter, calling "insulting and laughable" the suggestion that the decision to go to war was made "based on the influence of others." "As President Trump has clearly and explicitly stated, he had strong and compelling evidence that
