Trump is urged to “reverse course” after a top US counterterrorism official resigns over the Iran War.

Due of the conflict in Iran, Donald Trump’s senior counterterrorism official resigned, calling on the president to “reverse course.” 

Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, stated in a letter published on X that the administration “started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby” and that Iran posed “no imminent threat” to the United States.

The president had “compelling evidence” that Iran would strike the United States first, according to the White House, which rejected the letter. Kent was charged with “antisemitic tropes” by a US hate monitor. 

Kent’s exit makes him the most prominent member of the Trump administration to openly denounce the US-Israeli war on Iran. Trump described Kent as a “nice guy” but “weak on security” in the Oval Office on Tuesday.

He also said Kent’s resignation letter had made him realise “it was a good thing that he’s out”. In the letter to Trump, Kent claimed that prominent US journalists and “high-ranking Israeli officials” had spread “misinformation” that caused the president to compromise his “America First” stance. 

“This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States,” the letter went on to say. “This was a lie.” Early in his term, the president nominated Kent, a longtime Trump admirer who made two unsuccessful attempts to run for Congress, and he was barely confirmed to the position.

Trump described Kent as a “nice guy” but “weak on security” in the Oval Office on Tuesday. 

He added that he realized “it was a good thing that he’s out” after reading Kent’s resignation letter. In the letter to Trump, Kent claimed that prominent US journalists and “high-ranking Israeli officials” had spread “misinformation” that caused the president to compromise his “America First” stance. 

“This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States,” the letter went on to say. “This was a lie.” Early in his term, the president nominated Kent, a longtime Trump admirer who made two unsuccessful attempts to run for Congress, and he was barely confirmed to the position.

During his confirmation hearings, Kent declined to retract allegations that Trump had won the 2020 election or that federal agents had incited the violence at the US Capitol in January 2021.

His appointment of a member of the far-right Proud Boys as a consultant for his 2022 campaign had drawn criticism from Democrats.  The charges in Kent’s resignation letter “traffic in old-age antisemitic tropes,” according to a statement from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a US antisemitism watchdog.The ADL statement was reprinted on X by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), a pro-Israel lobbying organization. A request for response  was not immediately answered by Aipac.