(AURN News) — In a break within President Donald Trump’s national security circle, Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, has resigned.
In a letter to the administration, Kent wrote that he “cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” said Iran “posed no imminent threat to our nation,” and argued the conflict was launched under pressure from Israel and its American allies.
He also wrote that earlier in the administration, Trump understood that Middle East wars drained American lives and resources and warned against repeating past mistakes such as the Iraq War.
Kent, a decorated combat veteran who lost his wife, Shannon Kent, during a deployment in Syria, added that he could not support sending another generation into a war he said serves no clear U.S. interest.
He urged the president to reconsider the path forward. His resignation, less than a year into the job, marks the first known departure of a senior Trump official over the war.
Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.
