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Joe Kent, a top counterterrorism official, resigns citing Iran war
Joe Kent, when he was campaigning as a Republican congressional candidate in 2022, resigned citing his opposition to the Iran war.
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The head of the National Counterterrorism Center has resigned in protest over the war with Iran. Joe Kent, an Army veteran who completed 11 combat deployments to the Mideast and elsewhere, said he “cannot in good conscience” support the war.
He said that Israel pushed the U.S. into the conflict with a pressure campaign to “deceive” President Trump, and that Iran “posed no imminent threat to our nation.”
He shared his resignation letter in a social media post.
Kent ran two unsuccessful congressional bids in Washington state as a Republican and Trump loyalist. He said in his resignation letter that he supported “the values and the foreign policy” that Trump campaigned on.
“Until June of 2025, you understood that the wars in the Middle East were a trap that robbed America of the precious lives of our patriots and depleted the wealth and prosperity of our nation,” Kent wrote to Trump in the letter.
Kent’s wife, Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Shannon Kent, died serving in Syria in 2019.
Kent called on Trump to “reflect upon what we are doing in Iran, and who we are doing it for.” He said Trump could “reverse course and chart a new path for our nation, or you can allow us to slip further toward decline and chaos. You hold the cards.”
In response, Trump said Tuesday he “always thought” Kent was a nice guy but also “was weak on security, very weak on security.”
“I didn’t know him well, but I thought he seemed like a pretty nice guy, but when I read his statement, I realized that it’s a good thing that he’s out because he said that Iran was not a threat. Iran was a threat every country,” Trump said during an Oval Office event.
Trump nominated Kent as director of the National Counterterrorism Center in February 2025. The Senate confirmed him to the position in July 2025, 52-44, without Democratic support. Ahead of his confirmation, numerous reports detailed his links with extremist figures, including to people affiliated with the Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer, both far-right extremist groups.
In 2021, Kent spoke with Nick Fuentes, a neo-Nazi who has become influential within younger ranks of the GOP, about the possibility of assisting with his congressional campaign social media strategy. Kent later tried to distance himself from that call and said he had no further associations with him.
The senior vice president of the pro-Israel political nonprofit J Street, Ilan Goldenberg, said Kent’s warnings of an Israeli conspiracy to deceive the U.S. “plays on the worst antisemitic tropes.”
“Donald Trump is the President of the United States and he is the one ultimately responsible for sending American troops into harms way,” Goldenberg wrote on X, noting his own opposition to the war.
Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, similarly said he agrees with Kent’s opposition to the war, while noting he did not support Kent’s nomination.
NPR’s domestic extremism correspondent Odette Yousef contributed to this report.
US negotiators to head to Pakistan and Iranian cargo ship seized – a recappublished at 00:37 BST 20 April
Tankers in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday
Here’s a recap of the latest developments.
US negotiators will head to Pakistan on Monday with the intention of holding further talks on ending the war, Trump says – but Iranian state media cites unnamed officials as saying Tehran has “no plans for now to participate”.
The prospect of further high-level negotiations – a White House official says Vice-President JD Vance will attend – comes amid reports of fresh attacks on commercial vessels.
Trump says the navy intercepted and took “custody” of an Iranian tanker attempting to pass through the US blockade, “blowing a hole” in the ship’s engine room in the process.
Earlier, in the same post announcing his representatives would travel for more talks, Trump renewed his threat to destroy Iranian energy sites and bridges if no deal is reached.
Reports in Iranian media over the weekend suggest Iran is continuing to work on plans to potentially apply a toll to ships passing through the strait – although it’s unclear if such a move will be implemented.
Iranian state TV cites unnamed officials as saying that “continuation of the so-called naval blockade, violation of the ceasefire and threatening US rhetoric” are slowing progress in reaching an agreement.
Trump also accused Iran of violating the ceasefire, saying more commercial ships have been attacked by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz.
A UK maritime agency reported two commercial ships came under fire in the strait on Saturday.
Iran’s foreign minister had said on Friday that the strait would be opened – which was shortly followed by Trump saying the US naval blockade of Iranian ports would remain in place until a deal is reached. Iran has since said the strait is closed again.
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By Christina Kelso
April 19, 2026
An aerial view shows damage from a tornado, on Saturday in Lena, Ill.
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Communities across the Upper Midwest are cleaning up after tornadoes and severe weather impacted the region over the weekend, damaging and destroying dozens of homes and knocking out power for tens of thousands.
“Numerous” severe storms were tracked across parts of Iowa, Illinois and Missouri on Friday, according to the National Weather Service. At least 66 tornado reports were submitted in multiple states including Oklahoma, Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin and Iowa, the NWS Quad Cities IA/IL office said Sunday.
No deaths have been reported from the severe weather and tornado outbreak.
In Marion Township in Minnesota, about 30 homes were damaged and a dozen have significant damage because of a tornado, according to the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office. The tornado also damaged at least 20 homes in Stewartville and there is a temporary shelter in Rochester for people displaced by the storms, according to MPR News.
“Tornado disaster recovery continues to occur at full speed,” the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office said on Saturday.
In Illinois, McClean County officials declared a disaster emergency because of severe storms in Bloomington. “At this time, no injuries have been reported, and emergency response agencies remain actively engaged to ensure public safety and continuity of essential services,” officials said in a statement.
But further north in the village of Lena, an EF-2 tornado caused the “most significant damage” where “many homes and outbuildings were damaged, trees uprooted, and power lines downed,” the NWS said. Numerous roads have also been blocked by debris, the Stephenson County Sheriff’s Office also said.
People continue to clean up following a tornado, on Saturday in Lena, Ill.
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There have been no fatalities and no reports of serious injuries associated with the storm, Chief Deputy Andy Schroeder from the Stephenson County Sheriff’s Office told NPR on Sunday.
More than 43,000 customers lost power in Illinois but power was restored to almost all of them by Saturday night, according to electric utility ComEd.
Several tornadoes also occurred across Wisconsin, according to the NWS office in La Crosse. Twenty-six tornado warnings were issued by the office on Friday, the most in one day since the weather service office was built in 1995.
In one Marathon County town, 75 homes were destroyed by a tornado, according to Ringle Fire Chief Chris Kielman.
“It took out a whole residential area,” Kielman said, according to Wisconsin Public Radio.
The American Red Cross of Wisconsin said volunteers are helping those impacted by the storm with meals, shelter and support.
Parts of the state are still dealing with multiple rounds of severe weather and tornadoes from earlier in the week that brought flooding to some communities.
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