Leavitt Hits Back After Trump's Own Counterterrorism Chief Quits, Blasting His Resignation Letter as Filled With 'False Claims'

Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Centre, resigned on Tuesday in a public rebuke of the Trump administration's ongoing war with Iran — and the White House hit back within hours. Kent, a retired Green Beret and longtime supporter of President Donald Trump, posted his resignation letter directly on X, making it one of the most visible internal dissents since the conflict began. In the letter, addressed to President Trump, Kent wrote: 'I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. 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.'

The resignation drew immediate attention in Washington not just because of Kent's role, but because of who he is — the highest-profile rebuke yet of the war effort from a Trump administration insider and staunch supporter of the MAGA movement. As director of the National Counterterrorism Centre, Kent led US counterterrorism and counternarcotics efforts and was the president's principal counterterrorism adviser. Trump, when asked about the resignation during a meeting with the Irish prime minister, was dismissive: 'I always thought he was a nice guy. But I always thought he was weak on security, very weak on security.'

Leavitt Calls the Letter 'False'

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responded swiftly on X, targeting Kent's central claim. In her post, she wrote that there are 'many false claims in this letter' but zeroed in on the assertion that Iran posed no imminent threat, calling it 'the same false claim that Democrats and some in the liberal media have been repeating over and over.' Leavitt stated that Trump 'had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first,' and that the evidence 'was compiled from many sources and factors.' She also pushed back on the suggestion that the decision was influenced by a foreign government, calling the allegation 'both insulting and laughable.'

Leavitt further defended the military campaign by pointing to Iran's ballistic missile expansion, its nuclear ambitions, and its track record of killing Americans, arguing that the regime 'openly threatened us all the way up to the launch of Operation Epic Fury.' She said Trump gave Iran 'every single possible opportunity' to renounce its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief and economic partnerships — and that Tehran refused.

The pushback drew added scrutiny, however, given Leavitt's own words just days prior. On 12 March, responding to an ABC News report about an FBI warning of a potential Iranian drone attack on California, Leavitt posted on X: 'TO BE CLEAR: No such threat from Iran to our homeland exists, and it never did.' That post — published to deny what she described as an unverified FBI tip — was seized upon by critics as undermining the very argument she made against Kent. Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy wrote: 'This is fantastic. Leavitt using ALL CAPS to make perfectly clear that Iran did not and does not pose any threat to America. And yet we're at war and gas prices are through the roof!' The White House did not immediately clarify the apparent discrepancy between the two statements.

A Letter Aimed Directly at Trump

Beyond the geopolitical arguments, Kent's resignation letter carried a personal and pointed tone. The combat veteran, who served 11 combat deployments during a 20-year Army Special Forces career and lost his wife Shannon — a Navy cryptologist — in a terrorist bombing in Syria in 2019, drew a direct parallel between the current conflict and the Iraq war. In the letter, he wrote that 'this was a lie and is the same tactic the Israelis used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war that cost our nation the lives of thousands of our best men and women.'

Kent also accused senior Israeli officials and members of the American media of running a misinformation campaign early in the administration, writing that an 'echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States.' He urged Trump to 'reverse course,' warning that failure to do so would allow the nation to 'slip further toward decline and chaos.'

Sidelined Before He Resigned

The resignation may have been less of a surprise inside the White House than it appeared publicly. According to CNN, a senior Trump administration official said the White House had previously sidelined Kent from participating in the president's intelligence briefings, including those related to Iran, and that the White House had told Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard to fire Kent before he announced his resignation — but 'she never did.' Gabbard, once a vocal opponent of war with Iran, has remained largely silent on the administration's military actions. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Kent's departure marks the most senior and most public break within the Trump administration over the Iran war to date. His resignation — and the speed of the White House's rebuttal — signals that internal divisions over the conflict are no longer contained behind closed doors. With the war entering its third week and European leaders already pushing back on US requests for assistance in the Strait of Hormuz, the political pressure on the administration is mounting from multiple directions.