Joe Kent’s resignation over concerns about the Iran war has turned into a direct account of internal deliberations, as the former counterterrorism official said he was blocked from sharing doubts with President Donald Trump before the Feb. 28 Iran strikes. Speaking Wednesday on Tucker Carlson’s show, Kent said he and other senior officials who had concerns about the airstrikes “were not allowed” to raise them with Trump, describing what he characterized as a closed decision-making process.
Kent, who previously led the National Counterterrorism Center, said Trump relied on a limited group of advisers in making the decision to strike Iran. Kent told Carlson that “A good deal of key decision makers were not allowed to come and express their opinion to the president,” adding that “There wasn’t a robust debate.” He said Kent’s account reflects how the decision was made and raised the possibility of disagreement inside the administration as the war against Iran unfolds.
Kent said he declined to say who blocked him when Carlson asked about the specific source of the restriction. He also said he had no intelligence suggesting Iran was working to develop nuclear weapons, and he argued that Israel was able to push the U.S. toward action by promising it would act first. Kent said Israeli officials and U.S. media commentators helped make the case that Iran posed a threat.
Kent went further, telling Carlson that “The Israelis drove the decision to take this action.” He cited comments from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and House Speaker Mike Johnson that suggested Israel’s plans prompted the U.S. to take action. Kent also said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials personally lobbied Trump, and he said that the information presented to him “didn’t reflect intelligence channels.”
Kent’s statement about an “Israeli lobby” behind Trump’s decision drew criticism from Jewish groups and others, the Associated Press reported, including concerns that the claim amounted to antisemitism. In response to Kent’s new remarks, the White House did not immediately respond to questions about his account on Carlson’s show.
The remarks also put Kent’s perspective in contrast with comments from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. On Wednesday, Gabbard said it was up to Trump—and Trump alone—to decide whether Iran posed a threat, according to the AP report. The report said Gabbard has previously criticized talk of military strikes in Iran, and that a spokesperson declined to respond to questions about what she thought of the current strikes.
Trump has offered shifting reasons for the strikes and has pushed back on claims that Israel forced the U.S. to act. The AP reported that on Tuesday, Trump rejected Kent’s criticism of the war and said he always thought Kent was “weak on security,” and that if someone in his administration did not believe Iran was a threat, “we don’t want those people.” Trump also said “They’re not smart people, or they’re not savvy people,” adding, “Iran was a tremendous threat.”
In explaining why he left his post, Kent told Carlson that he decided to resign after becoming clear that his concerns would be ignored. Kent said: “I know this path that we’re on, it doesn’t work,” and he determined: “I can’t be a part of this in good conscience.” Kent said he is a Green Beret who saw combat in 11 deployments and later joined the CIA. He described personal loss as well, saying his wife, a Navy cryptologist, was killed by a suicide bomber in 2019 in Syria, leaving him with two young sons, and he said he has since remarried.