Top US counterterrorism official Joe Kent resigns over Iran war

He later became a paramilitary officer at the CIA, before leaving government service following his wife's death.

Kent cited his military service and his wife's death in his letter, saying that he "cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people nor justifies the cost of American lives".

At the National Counterterrorism Center, Kent reported to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and oversaw the analysis and detection of potential terrorist threats from around the globe.

Following Kent's resignation on Tuesday, Gabbard backed Trump's decision to go to war with Iran.

In a statement posted on X, she said that as commander-in-chief, the president was responsible for determining what is and is not an imminent threat.

She noted that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence was responsible for helping to provide the president "with the best information available to inform his decisions".

"After carefully reviewing all the information before him, President Trump concluded that the terrorist Islamist regime in Iran posed an imminent threat and he took action based on that conclusion," Gabbard wrote on X.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Kent's suggestion that "Trump made the decision based on the influence of others, even foreign countries, is both insulting and laughable".

"As President Trump has clearly and explicitly stated, he had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first," she added.

Mitch McConnell, the former top Republican in the Senate, posted on X: "Isolationists and anti-Semites have no place in either party, and certainly do not deserve places of trust in our government."

But ex-Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene - a onetime Trump backer - came out in support of Kent, calling him an American hero.

She posted on X: "They are going to lie about Joe Kent and try to discredit him. Do not believe the lies!"

There have been a number of resignations among senior officials in the Trump administration, including Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement director Margaret Ryan and Kennedy Center head Richard Grenell.

President Trump's second term, however, has seen far less turnover than his previous tenure at the White House between 2017-21.