President Donald Trump went off in a fiery rant today against Joe Kent, his former National Counterterrorism Center Director who dramatically resigned last week in protest of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.
In fresh comments that are already exploding across social media and cable news, Trump expressed deep frustration over Kent’s sudden reversal on Iran — after the president personally helped bring him into the White House.
Trump said:
“I call him up, give him a job in the White House. Smart… and THIS is what he does to me?! You know? Being a NICE GUY doesn’t pay off too much!”
“Look — I’m not a fan of the guy.”
“If you look at his statements, he was all for everything. All of a sudden, he wasn’t!”
Trump then recounted how he first met Kent:
“He was a man that I met at Dover. He came, and his wife was killed. He re-married fairly quickly. His wife was killed, and I felt badly for him.”
“He ran for Congress, he lost. He ran for Congress again, and he lost… I said, he’s a nice guy, I met him… I said, it’s a shame.”
“I had my people call him… I never dealt with him. At all. I had no idea his ideology was left, or right, whatever it is.”
The president then zeroed in on Kent’s resignation letter, in which Kent claimed Iran posed “no imminent threat” to the United States:
“He said very strongly Iran was not a threat? It’s been a threat for 47 years!”
“I brilliantly have my people call him, offer him a job in security, essentially… and what does he do?! He goes out and says Iran is not a threat to get publicity.”
