Ex-counterterrorism chief Joe Kent says Trump was poised for better Iran deal before war

Former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent said Thursday that before the Iran war, President Donald Trump was poised to strike a better deal with the regime than the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action from the Barack Obama era.

In a post on X, Kent wrote, "Prior to letting the Israelis lead us into this war, President Trump was actually poised to cut a better deal than the JCPOA (aka the Obama Iran deal)."

Kent added that the Iranians feared and respected Trump in a way they never respected Obama. He noted Trump took out terror mastermind Qasem Soleimani but stayed prudent enough to avoid another Middle Eastern quagmire that would favor Iran and strengthen its hardliners.

Kent, who quit the counterterrorism post in March over his opposition to the Iran war, said that as soon as Trump returned to office in January 2025, the Iranians stopped their proxies from attacking U.S. forces and opened to negotiations.

He asserted Trump could still correct course by breaking the stalemate: get out of the military standoff, restrain the Israelis, and leverage sanctions relief to open the Strait of Hormuz and secure a new nuclear deal.

White House spokesman Davis Ingle responded to Fox News Digital with a statement criticizing Kent. "Joe Kent’s self-aggrandizing resignation letter and recent comments are riddled with lies," Ingle said. "Most egregious are Kent’s false claims that the largest state sponsor of terrorism somehow did not pose a threat to the United States and that Israel forced the President into launching Operation Epic Fury."

Ingle said Trump, as commander-in-chief, took decisive action based on strong evidence that the Iranian regime posed an imminent threat and was preparing to strike Americans first. He added that Trump's top priority has always been American safety and security.

During Thursday testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, U.S. Central Command Commander Adm. Brad Cooper said Iran and its proxies attacked U.S. service members and diplomats about 350 times in the 30 months before Operation Epic Fury began—roughly every third day.

Kent countered on X that Iran's proxies attacked under Biden, not under the current Trump administration before Epic Fury. He pointed to the 30-month timeframe and said the attacks stopped when Trump took office in January 2025.

Kent wrote that Iran held back its proxies because they knew Trump would hit back and wanted a deal with him. That deal, he said, would have thwarted Israel's goal of drawing the U.S. into war, so Israel pushed for conflict.

He claimed Iran's restraint on proxies and protests against the regime in January showed Trump's maximum pressure and targeted strikes were working. Kent said this success was squandered by letting Israelis drive U.S. decisions.