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Mar 17, 2026 - World

A military general revealed on Tuesday that more Trump administration resignations are likely on the horizon after Joe Kent, head of the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned in protest over the U.S. war in Iran.Retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Steve Anderson told CNN anchors Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown that he expects more Trump allies to step down over the military conflict in the Middle East. "I think that this is absolutely significant," Anderson said. Kent, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, is the first to leave the administration over the war. The longtime MAGA ally announced his decision on X early Tuesday, saying “I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”"I mean, think about the anguish that he went through to do this, to make this resignation," Anderson said. "This is an insider, this is a MAGA guy through and through. And this is a tremendous blow to President Trump. But it took an incredible amount of political courage for him to make the stand that he has made. "I don't agree with his positions. I don't agree with a lot of things he's done in the background, but I respect him for his service to our nation. ... And for his ability to make a political stand here of the highest order. I'm very, very proud that he has chosen to do this. "And I hope that this leads to other resignations, because this war is not going well, it's only getting worse, and I think that Joe Kent, by recognizing that there was no imminent threat, in actually putting that in writing and resigning as he did, is a tremendous, tremendous blow to the Trump administration."

Mar 17, 2026 - World

Based on the data compiled, we can bucket the strike pattern broadly into three distinct phases: an initial 'saturation' attack, a sustained drone attrition campaign, and a sudden decline in attack intensity.

Mar 17, 2026 - World

House Speaker Mike Johnson attempted to define President Donald Trump's claim that he would end the Iran war when he feels it in his bones to mean "informed by the intelligence.""President Trump recently said that the war in Iran will be over when he feels it in his bones," a reporter told Johnson on Tuesday. "What does he mean by that?""Well, I think his bones are informed by the intelligence, okay?" Johnson replied. "So, look, it's the commander-in-chief, whomever is the president, whomever is the commander-in-chief under our constitutional system is given a broad amount of latitude and authority.""Their decisions are informed by all the intelligence and the experts, a large panel of them from the Joint Chiefs of Staff on down, who come in and advise the president, every president, makes a good decision. And hopefully they make a prayerful decision," he added. "I think this president will as well. He's getting great advice from great people. And I'm very encouraged about where we are. I think this will wind down quickly. And it's gonna be in the best interest of America going forward and of the whole world."

Mar 17, 2026 - World

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt fired back at U.S. intelligence official Joe Kent after he resigned over President Donald Trump's war with Iran."After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today," Kent wrote Tuesday in a post on X.Kent insisted in his resignation letter that Iran had not posed an imminent threat."This is the same false claim that Democrats and some in the liberal media have been repeating over and over," Leavitt replied later on Tuesday. "Iran is the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism.""The Iranian regime is evil. It proudly killed Americans, waged war against our country, and openly threatened us all the way up to the launch of Operation Epic Fury," she continued. "The President, through his top negotiators, gave the regime every single possible opportunity to abandon this unacceptable course by permanently giving up their nuclear ambitions in exchange for sanctions relief, free nuclear fuel, and potential economic partnerships with our country.""President Trump ultimately made the determination that a joint attack with Israel would greatly reduce the risk to American lives that would come from a first strike by the terrorist Iranian regime and address this imminent threat to America's national security interests."Leavitt also blasted Kent for suggesting that Iran had pushed him into the war."The Commander-in-Chief determines what does and does not constitute a threat, because he is the one constitutionally empowered to do so - and because the American people went to the ballot box and entrusted him and him alone to make such final judgments," she said. "And finally, the absurd allegation that President Trump made this decision based on the influence of others, even foreign countries, is both insulting and laughable. President Trump has been remarkably consistent and has said for DECADES that Iran can NEVER possess a nuclear weapon.""As someone who actually witnesses President Trump's decision-making process on a daily basis, I can attest to the fact that he is always looking to do what's in the best interest of the United States of America — period," she added.Trump was later asked about Kent's resignation."It's a good thing that he's out," the president said. "We don't want those people."

Mar 17, 2026 - World

The abrupt resignation of Donald Trump’s director of the National Counterterrorism Center with a very public rebuttal of the Iran war could lead to more officials fleeing the embattled White House.Early Tuesday morning, Joe Kent, who worked hand-in-hand with Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, dealt a devastating blow to the president’s war narrative that was already being greeted with no small amount of skepticism.On X, Kent wrote, “After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today. I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”Appearing on MS NOW just as the news broke, the New York Times Peter Baker told host Anna Cabrera, Kent’s high-profile departure could signal an exodus."Peter, we've seen rumblings of discontent between the president and some of his MAGA base over Iran, but most have stuck with Trump. Is this a sign the bases may be shakier than he may have thought?” Cabrera prompted her guest.“Well, it would certainly be a warning on that front, and it will be interesting to see if anybody else follows Joe Kent out the door,” Baker replied. “Does this encourage others who might have doubts, who might be uncomfortable with what's going on, to speak out or take action themselves? We saw from the very beginning people like Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, a handful of others who say that Trump appealed to them when he first ran because he was going to keep them out of Middle East wars, because he promised no new wars, because he said no regime change.”“Now, of course, this resignation underlines that there's a part of the base that's deeply uncomfortable with this,” he added. “So we'll see if this encourages others to take the same direction, but it will be seized on by a lot of people in the coalition as an example of what they have been personally thinking. And it will confirm to those who are very critical of Israel and that wing of the MAGA spectrum as well, that their suspicions are correct.” - YouTube youtu.be