The departure of Joe Kent, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, means one less leaker in Washington, according to multiple reports.
“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 on X after splashing his resignation letter across social media.
Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican from Nebraska, was quick to celebrate.
“Good riddance. Iran has murdered more than a thousand Americans. Their EFP land mines were the deadliest in Iraq. Anti-Semitism is an evil I detest, and we surely don’t want it in our government,” he wrote on X.
A senior administration official tells FOX, Joe Kent was:
-a known leaker and he was cut out of POTUS intelligence briefings months ago.
-the WH told DNI Tulsi Gabbard he should be fired for suspected leaks but she never did.
-he has not been part of any Iran planning…
— Aishah Hasnie (@aishahhasnie) March 17, 2026
Media reports said Kent had been leaking information and was already marginalized in the Trump administration.
“A senior administration official tells FOX, Joe Kent was: a known leaker and he was cut out of POTUS intelligence briefings months ago,” Aishah Hasnie of Fox News posted on X.
“He has not been part of any Iran planning discussions or briefings at all,” she posted.
“The WH told DNI Tulsi Gabbard he should be fired for suspected leaks but she never did,” Hasnie added.
NEW: Intelligence official tells @realDailyWire that it’s true that Joe Kent wasn’t part of the planning of the Iran war or briefings on the war.
It is not true that DNI’s Tulsi Gabbard was asked by the White House to fire Kent, source says— if she had been asked to do so, she…
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) March 17, 2026
A difference of opinion on Gabbard’s role came from Mary Margaret Olohan of The Daily Wire.
“It is not true that DNI’s Tulsi Gabbard was asked by the White House to fire Kent, source says — if she had been asked to do so, she would have fired him,” she posted on X.
She also noted “that it’s true that Joe Kent wasn’t part of the planning of the Iran war or briefings on the war.”
More allegations are emerging that Joe Kent leaked across multiple departments.
Some are saying he lost his security clearance and was likely on his way out.
Which begs the question: Is Joe just positioning himself for a forthcoming post-admin grift? https://t.co/Fh0Jv25J2o pic.twitter.com/rVXigPyERC
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) March 17, 2026
President Donald Trump said it was a “good thing” Kent left, according to Fox News.
“I read his statement,” Trump said. “I always thought he was a nice guy, but I always thought he was weak on security, very weak on security.”
“I didn’t know him well, but I thought he seemed like a pretty nice guy, but when I read his statement, I realized that it’s a good thing that he’s out,” Trump said. “Because he said that Iran was not a threat.”
Donald Trump was overwhelmingly elected by the American people to be our President and Commander in Chief. As our Commander in Chief, he is responsible for determining what is and is not an imminent threat, and whether or not to take action he deems necessary to protect the…
— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) March 17, 2026
“Iran was a threat. Every country realized what a threat Iran was. The question is whether or not they wanted to do something about it,” Trump continued.
Trump reaffirmed that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.
“If I didn’t terminate Obama’s horrible deal that he made, the Iran nuclear deal, you would have had a nuclear war four years ago,” Trump said. “You would have had nuclear holocaust, and you would have had it again if we didn’t bomb the site.”
“So when somebody is working with us that says they didn’t think Iran was a threat: We don’t want those people,” he said. “They’re not smart people, or they’re not savvy people.”
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