Johnson Hits Back After Counterterrorism Chief Quits; Says Iran Threat To Americans Was ‘Imminent’

Update (1220ET): Shortly after the departure of Joe Kent as director of the National Counterterrorism Center over the Iran war – insisting that Iran posed “no imminent threat to our nation,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) insisted there was. 

“I’m on the Gang of Eight. I got all the briefings. We all understood there was clearly an imminent threat,” Johnson said during a press conference, referring to the classified briefings that top Congressional leaders receive. “I don’t know where Joe Kent is getting his information, but he wasn’t in those briefings, clearly.”

Mike Johnson: “We all understood there was clearly an imminent threat that Iran was very close to the enrichment of nuclear capability … I don’t know where Joe Kent is getting his information … the president felt he had to strike first to prevent mass casualties” pic.twitter.com/r9VgPqfW8Y

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 17, 2026

Top Democrats who were in those meetings, however, disagree – saying they were not presented with evidence of an imminent attack from Iran, according to The Hill. 

*  *  *

Please consider supporting ZeroHedge with the purchase of a multitool – or anything else from our store. Thanks for your help.

*  *  *

In a massive break from President Trump and MAGA, Joe Kent, Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), announced his immediate resignation on Tuesday, citing irreconcilable opposition to the ongoing U.S. military operations against Iran.

Kent declared he could not “in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” stating unequivocally that Iran posed “no imminent threat to our nation” and that the conflict was initiated “due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.” The move comes weeks into active strikes targeting Iranian nuclear sites, leadership, and infrastructure, with Iranian retaliation underway and global oil markets feeling the strain.

After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today.

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… pic.twitter.com/prtu86DpEr

— Joe Kent (@joekent16jan19) March 17, 2026

Kent, a retired Green Beret with 11 combat deployments, former CIA paramilitary officer, and Gold Star husband who lost his wife Shannon in a 2019 ISIS-claimed suicide bombing in Syria, framed his exit as a defense of the “America First” principles Trump championed during his 2016, 2020, and 2024 campaigns. He praised Trump’s first term for decisively striking Qasem Soleimani and defeating ISIS without escalating into endless wars, noting that until June 2025, Trump recognized Middle East conflicts as a “trap” draining American lives and wealth. However, Kent alleges that “early in this administration, high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign” that undermined Trump’s platform, deceived him into believing Iran posed an imminent threat with a “clear path to a swift victory,” and echoed tactics used to draw the U.S. into the “disastrous Iraq war.” He explicitly compares the current situation to Iraq, warning against repeating the mistake that cost thousands of American lives.

“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,” Kent wrote.

The resignation carries profound weight as Kent was a Senate-confirmed Trump loyalist installed in July 2025, not a career holdover. As head of the NCTC – tasked with assessing terrorist threats from Iranian proxies and beyond – Kent is directly challenging the administration’s justification for the conflict. The letter, addressed personally to the president and thanking DNI Tulsi Gabbard, signals deeper fractures in the MAGA coalition or prompts a policy pivot, Kent’s bombshell exit underscores the high personal and political stakes of America’s latest Middle East engagement.

The resignation effectively places Kent within a growing bloc of Republicans who have opposed the Iran campaign from the outset, elevating what had been a vocal but limited faction into a more institutionally significant challenge to the administration’s approach.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), longtime advocates of non-interventionist “America First” foreign policy, were among the earliest critics of the strikes, warning they risk entangling the U.S. in another costly and open-ended Middle East conflict. Both have argued in recent weeks that the operation mirrors the strategic missteps that led to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, calling for de-escalation and greater congressional oversight.

The most prominent political voice amplifying that message has been former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who has emerged as one of the war’s fiercest critics within Trump’s base. Since the first strikes in late February, Greene has repeatedly denounced the operation in media appearances and on social platforms, calling it a betrayal of Trump’s campaign pledge to avoid new foreign entanglements. 

On Saturday, Greene told CNN that the Republican base is fractured “along generational lines.”

“Many of the older Americans from the Baby Boomer generation that watch Fox News all day long very much believe the talking points on Fox News, and they have spent decades of their lives convinced that fighting these wars is the right thing to do,” she explained.

Marjorie Taylor Greene: “It’s turned into some perverted, deranged version of MAGA now that nobody wants” pic.twitter.com/OceBnJpLnp

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 16, 2026

Meanwhile, the knives are out. Trump’s former Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich said that Kent is a “crazed egomaniac who was often at the center of national security leaks, while rarely (never?) producing any actual work.”

Joe Kent is a crazed egomaniac who was often at the center of national security leaks, while rarely (never?) producing any actual work.

He spent all of his time working to subvert the chain of command and undermine the President of the United States.

This isn’t some principled… https://t.co/bcv0Kh6XVH

— Taylor Budowich (@Budowich) March 17, 2026