On Monday, President Trump criticized former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, who reportedly resigned due to his concerns about Operation Epic Fury. Kent alleged that the president was compromised by senior Israeli officials and misled the public regarding the imminent threat posed by Iran.
Kent, who is currently under FBI investigation for alleged information leaks and is barred from attending the president’s daily briefings, has faced considerable backlash for his resignation. Many have compared him to Tucker Carlson and other notable figures who have attempted to undermine the president’s base of support.
The president made it clear that he was displeased with the betrayal:
https:/twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2036081737483137190
“Look, I’m not a fan of the guy,” Trump said of Kent. “If you look at his Truths or whatever he went on, if it’s X or truth, if you look at his Truths or his statements, he was all for everything. All of a sudden, he wasn’t. He was a man that I met at Dover. He came and his wife was killed. He remarried fairly quickly. His wife was killed and I felt badly for him. He ran for Congress, he lost. He ran for Congress again and he lost. I said, you know, he’s a guy, nice guy, seemed like a very nice guy. I met him, he was pretty heartbroken.”
Trump added:
But I said, you know, it’s a shame. He ran for Congress twice, call him up, give him a job in the White House, smart. They gave him a job in the White House and this is what he does to me. You know, being a nice guy doesn’t pay off too much. He loses twice in Congress, ran not very good campaigns, should have won, but he loses twice. How do I get him? I have my people call him because I didn’t deal with it for the most part. I saw him a couple of times, but I never dealt with him at all. I had no idea his ideology was left or right, whatever it is.
Trump rejected the idea that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the United States. Allies of the administration have similarly questioned critics, asking when a danger should be considered imminent and why it would be better to wait until that point rather than act now, while the regime is already weakened.
“I can say this,” the president added. “He said very strongly that Iran is not a threat. Iran’s been a threat for 47 years and there’s not a country in the world that doesn’t agree with me on that. So I take this guy, Joe Kent, who lost twice for Congress, pretty badly, and tough, and it was devastating. And I know that he lost his wife. So instead of letting him live out his life, I brilliantly have my people call him and offer him a job in security, essentially, in the White House. And what does he do? He goes out, and he says that Iran is not a threat to get publicity. Now, he probably signed up with CNN or maybe signed up with your division of Newsmax. I don’t know.”
As Kent faces mounting criticism and a reported criminal probe for alleged leaking, he appears now to be walking back some of his initial claims.
President Trump is working to get peace with Iran, if he can make this happen it will be a very good thing for our nation & our allies in the Gulf.
The Israelis will be against this, but POTUS is strong & can get them on board.
— Joe Kent (@joekent16jan19) March 23, 2026
Quite the reversal.
