Joe Kent made headlines on Tuesday as "the first senior official to resign from the Trump administration because of the war." Before we get to the details, we can say that the man is a despicable liar.
Two weeks after he entered the White House, on February 4, 2025, Trump appointed Kent as the director of the "National Counterterrorism Center" (NCTC).
Since that appointment, Kent has published countless posts in support of Trump and his policies. As soon as the war against Iran began, on February 28, Kent published a post about the important role of the center he heads in "...eliminating the persistent threat to our homeland posed by thousands of individuals with terrorist ties who poured into our nation unchecked during four years of open borders under Biden." Although he is a public official, on March 1, Kent also took the trouble to publish a statement from the Republican Party that "Biden’s DHS released at least 99 individuals on the terrorist watchlist into the U.S."
Sounds like a loyal soldier of Trump? In his resignation announcement this week, Kent wrote, "it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby." He is indeed a loyal soldier, but not of Trump. Because these words are an exact replica of some of the most influential voices on the crazy and antisemitic right, Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens. We will return to the claim that this is a "war because of Israel."
In his resignation letter to Trump, Kent expanded on the allegations against Israel, which is supposedly dragging the United States into unnecessary wars, and also claimed: "As a Gold Star husband who lost my beloved wife Shannon in a war manufactured by Israel... I pray you will reflect on what we are doing in Iran, and who we are doing it for." Once again—Israel. He even uses his wife's death to blame Israel.
But something doesn't add up.
I went back to Trump's letter of appointment, which Kent is proud of, and it turns out that there, the president of the United States mentions the circumstances of his wife's death. "Joe knows the terrible cost of terrorism," Trump wrote, "losing his wonderful wife, Shannon, a great American hero, who was killed in the fight against ISIS." Excuse me?! Was she killed because of Israel or in the fight against ISIS?
Well, there are countless articles about the circumstances of her death. There is no debate. "The first American woman killed in Syria, as part of the war against ISIS," the New York Times wrote. It also turns out that Kent himself wrote an article: "Trump came to Dover after my wife was killed fighting ISIS." There is not a single word about Israel—not in that article and not anywhere else. The reason is simple. Shannon was killed when an ISIS suicide bomber entered a restaurant in northern Syria where a group of Americans was sitting.
It seems that the new version of the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" about Israeli influence should also be shattered. Contrary to the legends about Bibi's control of Trump, the situation is completely the opposite. Time and again, Trump dictated to Netanyahu what to do, against his will.
For example, on January 15, 2025, five days before Trump entered the White House, his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, arrived in Israel. He forced Netanyahu to meet with him on Shabbat and to agree to a deal he didn't want for the release of hostages. And again at the end of 2025, when Trump forced Netanyahu to sign the 20-point ceasefire agreement, which included a paragraph about Palestinian statehood—again, against Netanyahu's wishes. There was also the humiliating phone call in which Netanyahu was forced to apologize to the ruler of Qatar for the attempt to harm Hamas leaders in Doha. And in fact, these days again, when the United States is preventing Israel from expanding its war in Lebanon.
So Israel controls the United States? Yes, in the eyes of the new adherents of the Protocols. In practice, the collapse of the Iranian regime is a strategic interest of the United States.
Let's sum up. Joe Kent is a despicable liar. Once, the Jews were blamed for every problem. Now the Jewish state is being blamed. Those were lies then. These are the exact same lies now. Those were antisemites then. These are antisemites now.