Crisis of trust: the war in Iran caused the split of MAGA
Joe Kent, director of the US National Counterterrorism Center, has resigned due to US involvement in the armed conflict between Israel and Iran. This is not the first time that important representatives of MAGA ("Make America Great Again") have left his team due to the unpopular policies of Donald Trump, but now the situation is aggravated. The war with the Islamic Republic is so toxic that the American leader's team is splitting before our eyes. Why the Israeli lobby is called the main culprit and how the current situation will affect Republicans in the future is in the Izvestia article.
Reasons for Joe Kent's resignation
Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCC) USA Joe Kent resigned due to disagreement with the war in Iran. In a letter to Donald Trump, the politician noted that the Islamic Republic did not pose an immediate threat to the United States, and the war in the Middle East itself was unleashed "due to pressure from Israel and its influential lobby." The FBI is now threatening Kent with an investigation for disclosing state secrets.
"After much thought, I have decided to resign as director of the National Center for Combating Terrorism from today. I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no immediate threat to our country," Kent wrote in the letter.
According to the politician, before the 12-day war in June 2025, the US president understood that "the wars in the Middle East were a trap that deprived the United States of the precious lives of patriots and depleted the wealth and prosperity of the country." Everything changed when senior Israeli officials and influential representatives of the American media "launched a disinformation campaign that undermined the America First platform."
"I pray that you think about what we (the United States — Ed.) are doing in Iran and for whom we are doing it. The time has come for decisive action. You (Donald Trump. You can change course and chart a new path for our country, or you can let us continue to slide into decline and chaos. The cards are in your hands," the document says.
Kent's resignation caused a mixed reaction among the American elite: some supported the politician's decision, while others perceived it negatively. As The Guardian newspaper reported, Donald Trump reacted with surprise to this news, as he considered the former director of the NCC to be a "good guy."
"When I read this statement, I realized that it was good that he was fired because he said that Iran was not a threat. Iran was a threat. All countries understood the threat posed by Iran... so when someone who works with us says they didn't consider Iran a threat, we don't need such people.… They're not smart. They are short—sighted," Trump said during a speech at a reception at the White House on the occasion of St. Patrick's Day.
Director of the US National Counterterrorism Center Joe Kent
Republican Senator from South Carolina Lindsey Graham (included in the list of terrorists and extremists in the territory of the Russian Federation) did not stand aside, accusing "Mr. Kent" of quoting the "theses of the Democrats."
In turn, a close friend of the former head of the NCC and once a devoted Trump supporter, journalist Tucker Carlson, noted Kent's bravery.
"He's quitting a job that gave him access to top-level intelligence information. Now the neoconservatives will try to destroy him for this," he clarified.
Israel and other troubles
Joe Kent is a combat veteran who served for 20 years in the elite Green Berets unit of the US Army, and a former agent of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). By 2020, he had retired from public service due to a personal tragedy and became a foreign affairs adviser to the Trump campaign. Five years later, in February 2025, the current American president nominated him to the post of director of the US National Counterterrorism Center.
Experts believe that a politician with such a history and access to classified data would not talk about the war with Iran unfounded. Kent's main narrative is that the Islamic Republic did not develop a nuclear bomb either in the summer of 2025 or now. Arguing this, the former head of the NCC referred to declassified documents from the office of the Director of National Intelligence of the United States. They say that Tehran did not design nuclear warheads, since the fatwa of the deceased supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which forbade this, remains in force.
Immediately after announcing his resignation, Joe Kent came for an interview with Tucker Carlson, whom Trump had recently expelled from MAGA (although there was no legal procedure for this) because of criticism of the president's decision to launch an operation against Iran.
In a conversation with Carlson, the politician said that Israel was "out of control" in the conflict with Iran and was now actually waging a military campaign on its own. The immediate threat to the United States comes from West Jerusalem, Kent argues.
In June last year, when Israel limited itself to several strikes against the "nuclear facilities" of the Islamic Republic, the United States supported it, but refrained from direct participation. Six months later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's struggle against Iran turned into a problem for the United States. The war, launched under the pretext of an attack by the Islamic Republic, first on the Jewish state, and then on America, is becoming more and more destructive for Trump. Therefore, the head of the White House, according to Kent, needs to "resolutely appeal to the Israelis" and urge Netanyahu to cease fire.
"We have to tell them that. <...> If we don't do this, if we don't resolve our relations with the Israelis, even if we agree on a temporary cease-fire, we will find ourselves in the same situation again very soon. Therefore, the first thing President Trump must do is solve the main problem. The main problem is that the Israelis are out of control and waging this war. We must resolutely fight this," the politician added.
In confirmation that Israel is fueling the conflict at the expense of the United States, Kent shared information that West Jerusalem is probably transmitting coordinates to Washington for attacking civilian targets. As an example, he cited a strike on a girls' school in the south of the republic, which killed 168 students, as well as 14 teachers and staff.
"We share so much intelligence with Israel, so it's (using Israeli data before hitting the school. — Ed.) it is quite possible," Kent said. However, he noted that no one raises this topic and all decisions are made "behind closed doors."
In addition, Joe Kent accused the United States government of sending the military to certain death. The politician believes that the US bases were just a bait for the Iranian forces to escalate the conflict.
This fact may offend the American military community and cause unpredictable consequences. Malek Dudakov, an American political scientist, believes that if Kent finds himself in the sights of the FBI or under investigation, the army's mood, already weakened against the background of the Middle East escalation, may finally decline.
— If he is imprisoned, I think it will greatly affect the American military in the Middle East. Their internal corporate sentiments are strong: when any of their representatives are beaten, they stand up for themselves, no matter what. Right now, morale in the army is very low: many American soldiers refuse to go and participate in the operation against Iran. The bottom line is that the outcome will have negative consequences for Trump," the expert told Izvestia.
System meat grinder
The topic of Israel is becoming toxic for Trump, and the column of loyal supporters of the MAGA coalition is rapidly thinning. The American president is losing his most influential friends and colleagues: Marjorie Taylor Green, Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson, Matt Walsh, David Sachs, and now Joe Kent. The same fate may await the Director of National Intelligence of the United States Tulsi Gabbard. Initially, she was an ardent opponent of intervention and tried to prevent a war in Iran. However, Trump consistently rejected her arguments. For example, when Gabbard announced in June 2025 that there was no evidence of Iran's creation of nuclear weapons, the president accused her of being wrong and noted that the head of national intelligence was "mistaken."
Now Gabbard's position remains unclear, the Politico portal writes that, testifying before the Senate committee, the head of US national intelligence "supported the White House's position on Iran, while fending off Democrats' questions" about the invasion of the republic. However, she has never indicated that she supports Trump's arguments.
The Israeli regime, according to many right-wing conservatives, seeks to weaken the MAGA coalition, since the strong isolationist position of some members of the association prevents West Jerusalem from maintaining strategic relations with the United States.
Moreover, according to many MAGA supporters, agents of Israeli influence and Mossad are directly involved in the death of Charlie Kirk, a popular conservative activist and close friend of Kent, who, before his death, repeatedly expressed doubts about the need for American support in Israel's military initiatives.
The Israeli lobby is seeking to promote its candidates and remove political opponents in the upcoming congressional by-elections in November and in the 2028 presidential race, so that support for West Jerusalem continues. However, over time, the political influence of pro-Israel structures in the United States will decrease, according to international commentator Andrei Kuzmak.
— Polls show a record decline in support for Israel among the U.S. population, especially among young people. Of course, the inertia of this trend will not immediately reach the political class. So far, lobbyists have been quite successful in stopping the threat in the democratic segment of the electorate and cutting off representatives of the left wing of the Democratic Party from the struggle. However, over time, unconditional support for the military initiatives of West Jerusalem, especially in the MAGA camp, will inevitably become a marker of toxicity," the expert concluded.
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