Top Trump counterterror adviser resigns over Iran war: ‘No imminent threat’
Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, testifies during the House Homeland Security Committee hearing titled “Worldwide Threats to the Homeland,” in Cannon building on Wednesday, December 11, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration’s top counterterrorism official Joe Kent announced his resignation Tuesday over opposition to the Iran war, becoming the highest-profile administration official to step down publicly over the conflict.
In a resignation letter posted publicly on social media, Kent said he could not “in good conscience” support the war, which is now in its third week.
“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, who served as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, wrote in his resignation letter.
The National Counterterrorism Center is housed within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. ABC News has reached out to ODNI for comment.
ODNI says Kent oversaw the U.S. counterterrorism and counternarcotics enterprise and, according to his biography, he served as the principal counterterrorism adviser to the president.
ABC News has reached out to the White House for comment.
Kent is a combat veteran who served more than 20 years in the U.S. Army and completed 11 combat deployments in the Middle East.
Kent also invoked a deeply personal loss in explaining his decision to step down: he is a Gold Star husband whose late wife, Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Shannon Kent, was killed in action during a suicide bombing while serving in Syria in 2019.
In his resignation letter, Kent wrote, “As a veteran who deployed to combat 11 times and as a Gold Star husband who lost my beloved wife Shannon in a war manufactured by Israel, I 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.”
An F-35C Lightning II, attached to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314, launches from the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in support of Operation Epic Fury, March 3, 2026. (US Navy)
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. believes that Russia has been providing Iran the locations of American troops in the Middle East, including aircraft and ships, according to two people familiar with the intelligence.
The alleged assistance, first reported by The Washington Post, is alarming because it would enable the Iranians to target specific locations with ballistic missiles and drones, putting U.S. service members at risk.
When asked about the aid to Iran, an intelligence official confirmed that the U.S. believes Russia is supplying Tehran intelligence, but did not say exactly what type of information was being shared.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not deny the report on Friday, instead saying it didn’t matter because the U.S. was still winning the war.
“It clearly is not making a difference with respect to the military operations in Iran because we are completely decimating them,” Leavitt told reporters on Friday.
Leavitt added that the U.S. is achieving the military objectives of this operation, including destroying some 30 ships and crippling Iran’s ability to launch ballistic missiles.
“And that is going to continue because the United States military is the best and most, most lethal fighting force in the world,” she said.
Six U.S. service members were killed March 1 during an Iranian drone attack on a base in Kuwait. At least 10 other troops have been severely wounded in operations across the region.
The CIA declined to comment. The Defense Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Russia has not addressed the allegations. But Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said previously that Iran hasn’t asked for help.
“Our consistent position is well known to everyone, and there is no change,” Peskov said at a press briefing.
Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) speaks to a crowd during a fundraising event with the South Carolina Democratic Party at the Columbia Museum of Art on February 27, 2026 in Columbia, South Carolina. T (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Longtime Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn told ABC News on Thursday that he is running for reelection, not announcing his retirement.
Clyburn, 85, later made the announcement official at South Carolina Democratic Party HQ in Columbia, where he promised to mount a “vigorous campaign” as he pursues an 18th term in the House of Representatives.
Amid speculation that he may opt to retire, the former House majority whip admitted he seriously considered it and consulted with his three daughters and polled constituents. He said the message he received was, “We don’t want you to leave.”
“So, I’m responding to the people down here,” Clyburn said.
After more than 33 years in the House, what is left unfinished for Clyburn to accomplish?
“We exist in pursuit of a more perfect union,” Clyburn said. “There’s nobody here today who thinks that this country is perfect. It is not a perfect country. But I don’t think there’s anybody today who believe that we should give up on that pursuit of perfection, and I’m here today to say I do believe that I’m very well equipped and healthy enough to move into the next term, trying to do the things that are necessary to continue that pursuit of perfection.”
Clyburn’s potential reelection would push his political survival beyond Democratic Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer, who are retiring at the end of the current term on Jan. 3, 2027.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and House Democrats need a net gain of just three seats to seize the majority in November’s midterm elections.
“He was among those who asked me to stay,” Clyburn said of Jeffries. “He expressed an interest in my being a part of his leadership if he were to take the House back.”
Clyburn helped propel former President Joe Biden to the White House in 2020, throwing his endorsement behind Biden days before the South Carolina primary after three consecutive primary victories by Bernie Sanders as a field of Democrats vied for the party nomination.
Biden awarded Clyburn with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2024.
“Always grounded in faith, family and service, Jim has guided South Carolina and our country with a steady hand and honest heart for over the last half century,” Biden said. “I would not be standing here as president making these awards were it not for Jim. I mean that sincerely.”
Clyburn on Thursday would not say whether, if he is reelected, it would be his final term.
“This could very well be my last term, and it could very well not be,” Clyburn said. “We’ll just see how things go.”
Clyburn’s announcement comes as an increasing number of members of Congress are retiring, including Pelosi, 85, Hoyer, 86, and Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, 84.
Clyburn said in a 2021 interview with Axios that there is a path for the next generation and that if they wanted his seat, to “come get it.”
“The path is there for the next generation; I never asked anyone to die for me. I don’t know why people come saying you need to step aside for me. No. If you want my seat, come get it,” Clyburn said at the time.
Still, the U.S. Congress has gotten younger as a whole, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of representatives and senators who took office at the start of the 119th Congress.
The median age of voting members of the House of Representatives is now 57.5 years. That’s down from 57.9 at the start of the 118th Congress (2023-2025), 58.9 in the 117th Congress (2021-2023).
The Senate, following the death or retirement of some of its oldest members, has begun to reverse its aging trend. The new Senate’s median age is 64.7 years, down from 65.3 at the start of the previous Congress.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) speaks as U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) looks on during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on January 08, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Ahead of Thursday’s vote on a three-year extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, Democrats are boasting that several Republicans are expected to defy their leadership team.
