MAGA battle over Iran, Israel intensifies with Joe Kent resignation

Joe Kent’s resignation from a key Trump administration intelligence post has put the spotlight on a small but vocal segment of right-wing figures who believe Israel has pulled President Trump into a war with Iran.

Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center before his resignation this past week, asserted that Iran posed “no imminent threat” to the U.S. and accused the U.S. of starting the war “due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”

He became the highest-ranking Trump administration official to resign over opposition to the U.S. launching strikes against Iran.

The remarks resonated with figures such as the conservative pundit Tucker Carlson, who had Kent on his show a day after he quit his post. Carlson has also repeatedly criticized Israel’s influence over U.S. foreign policy.

The criticisms from Kent, Carlson, conservative commentator Megyn Kelly and others, however, has been met with a fierce defense of Israel from other Republicans both inside and outside MAGA, some of whom dubbed the criticisms of Israel as antisemitic.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) refuted Kent’s assessment, saying there was “clearly an imminent threat” from Iran. CIA Director John Ratcliffe also testified this week that Iran represented an imminent threat.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has repeatedly broken with Trump but backs the Iran war, went further and asserted that Kent’s resignation letter amounted to “virulent anti-Semitism.”

“Isolationists and anti-Semites have no place in either party, and certainly do not deserve places of trust in our government,” McConnell said.

Kent’s resignation was all the more notable coming amid speculation over a deeper MAGA divide over Iran and Israel.

Vice President Vance has backed the Iran war but is known to be wary of getting the U.S. involved in foreign conflicts. Trump said Vance was “less enthusiastic” about beginning the war.

Kent worked under Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democrat also known for anti-war stances. Gabbard avoided direct criticisms of Kent during testimony this past week to the House and Senate.

Carlson and Kelly have cited Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the early days of the war telling the press that the U.S. was expecting Iran to strike American forces because Israel was about to take action — though other reporting and statements conveyed that the U.S. and Israel acted in conjunction based on U.S. intelligence.

That hasn’t been the only instance of mixed messages from the Trump administration that has fueled skepticism among once-MAGA Republicans. Trump indicated he did not approve of Israeli strikes on the South Pars oil field in Iran that occurred this week and said he knew nothing about it — but reports in The Associated Press and elsewhere said that the U.S. was informed about the strike ahead of time.

Kent quickly embarked on a media tour after his exit, telling Carlson that the dynamic with Israel raises the question of “who is in charge of our policy in the Middle East.” He also appeared on Kelly’s show and is slated to appear on Iran war skeptic Shawn Ryan’s podcast, as well.

The White House has aggressively pushed back on Kent’s assessment, and The Hill’s sister network, NewsNation, reported this week that Kent was being investigated by the FBI for allegedly leaking classified information. Kent on Kelly’s show on Friday denied leaking to the media at all.

On Thursday, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) pressed Gabbard, who had formerly advocated against striking Iran, on whether she agreed with Kent’s letter. Gabbard did not clearly say whether she agreed or disagreed.

“He said a lot of things in that letter. Ultimately, we have provided the president with the intelligence assessments, and the president is elected by the American people and makes his own decisions based on the information that’s available to him,” Gabbard told Stefanik. 

Asked if the statement Kent made blaming Israel concerned her, Gabbard said: “Yes.”

Gabbard also raised eyebrows with her response to Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) asking whether the goals of the U.S. and Israel are aligned.

“The objectives that have been laid out by the president are different from the objectives that have been laid out by the Israeli government,” Gabbard said. “The Israeli government has been focused on disabling the Iranian leadership and taking out several members, obviously. … The president has stated that his objectives are to destroy Iran’s ballistic missile launching capability, their ballistic missile production capability, and their navy.”

Despite the concerns about Israel from the small segment of those who were once considered key members of Trump’s coalition, polls show that sizable majorities of Republicans and those who voted for Trump in 2024 are backing his actions in Iran.

A March 13-18 Politico poll found that 70 percent of those who voted for Trump in 2024 said they supported the U.S. acting jointly with Israel in striking Iran, while just 12 percent said they opposed the action. Support reached 81 percent among self-identified MAGA Trump voters and was 61 percent among non-MAGA Trump voters.

That is in line with a Feb. 27 to March 3 NBC News poll, which found that 77 percent of Republicans supported the strikes in Iran — a figure that reached 90 percent for self-identified MAGA-aligned Republicans. But among those Republicans who do not see themselves as part of MAGA, just 54 percent supported the strikes.

The White House and other supporters of the strikes have pointed to those polls when responding to criticism from figures who were long considered major figures in the MAGA movement but are now highly critical of the U.S.-Israel relationship.

Support for Israel more broadly, though, has dipped dramatically among all Americans in recent years — and that has included a recent steep decline among Republicans.

A Gallup survey conducted in February before the Iran strikes found that Republicans’ favorable views of Israel dipped from 84 percent in 2025 to 69 percent in 2026. Among all Americans, Israel’s favorability ratings dipped to 46 percent, a decline from 75 percent favorable in 2021. 

There are few Republicans in Congress or elsewhere in the government who will voice any concerns about Israel — and those who have faced political blowback.

Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) resigned from Congress after a falling-out with Trump that was in part over the U.S.-Israel relationship and Trump authorizing initial limited strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in 2025 amid the 12-day war.

The more libertarian-leaning Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.), who is often the lone Republican dissenting on Israel-related votes, is facing a Trump-backed primary challenger.

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