#291 Joe Kent - His Message to President Trump on Ending the War With Iran

Episode of The Shawn Ryan Show · March 26, 2026 · 2 h 3 min

Joe Kent explains to Shawn Ryan why he resigned as NCTC director over the U.S. war with Iran and Israeli influence on Trump.

Summary

Joe Kent, who had recently resigned as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, discussed with host Shawn Ryan his decision to step down publicly over U.S. policy in the war with Iran. Kent said he had spent a year trying to advance what he understood to be the administration's anti-interventionist agenda, concluded he could no longer be effective, and argued that President Trump's decision-making after Operation Midnight Hammer took place in a compartmentalized circle dominated by pro-Israel hawks such as Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz, along with media figures including Mark Levin.

Kent argued that the red line on Iran had been shifted from "no nuclear weapon" to "no enrichment" through repetition by Israeli officials, think tanks and friendly media, and that U.S. intelligence agencies had assessed Iran's religious prohibition on building a weapon was holding. He contended that striking Iran produced a rally-around-the-flag effect that strengthened hardliners, that Israel and the United States have incompatible strategic objectives, and that the only path out is for Washington to restrain Israel by conditioning defensive support, then use Gulf intermediaries and sanctions relief to bring Iran to the table. He warned that a proposal to seize Kharg Island would leave U.S. troops as sitting ducks for drones and missiles.

The conversation also covered Kent's account of the origins of the Iraq and Syria wars, the rise of ISIS, homeland security after four years of what he called an open border, and his claim that NCTC was blocked from pursuing possible foreign links in the Butler assassination attempt and the Charlie Kirk assassination. Kent denied leaking classified information and said he was unaware of any actual investigation. He predicted serious electoral consequences for Republicans in the 2026 midterms from gas prices, inflation and a fractured MAGA coalition, said he has no plans to run for office again, and argued that a draft or compulsory service would make prolonged wars politically impossible.

Chapters

0:05
Resigning from NCTC
Kent explains why he resigned publicly rather than stay in a position where he felt he could no longer be effective.
3:00
Israeli influence and the case for the strikes
Ryan reads reporting on Netanyahu and Lindsey Graham lobbying Trump, and Kent describes the pattern he says repeats in U.S.–Israel policy.
6:50
Trump's five-day pause and Iran's denial
The two compare Trump's Truth Social statement about talks with Iran's public denial, and discuss suspicious market trades around the announcement.
12:56
Moving the red line from weapons to enrichment
Kent recounts how enrichment replaced weaponization as the U.S. red line and how that led to the 12-day war and Operation Midnight Hammer.
22:12
Regime change, hardliners and the Strait of Hormuz
Kent argues strikes strengthen the IRGC and hardliners and warns about energy chokepoints and the petrodollar.
30:02
Strategy, Kharg Island and bad advisors
Kent criticizes the absence of a stated U.S. strategic goal and calls proposed ground operations, including seizing Kharg Island, disastrous.
50:16
Iraq, Syria and the origins of ISIS
Kent traces the Iraq and Syria wars to Israeli lobbying and neoconservative policy and describes the chain that led to ISIS and his wife's death.
58:01
Homeland threats and sleeper cells
Kent discusses 18,000 known or suspected terrorists with access to the U.S. and argues inspired lone actors are the greater threat.
1:04:02
Leak accusations, Butler and the Kirk assassination
Kent denies leaking classified information and says NCTC was blocked from investigating potential foreign links in both cases.
1:15:35
How to end the war
Kent lays out restraining Israel, working through Gulf partners and offering sanctions relief as the way to a ceasefire.
1:30:41
Midterms, MAGA and the coalition
Kent and Ryan discuss gas prices, the Epstein files, glyphosate immunity and the fracturing of the MAGA coalition ahead of 2026 and 2028.
1:44:21
Loadouts, gift and audience questions
Kent describes his old combat kit, receives a rifle, and answers Patreon questions on service, the draft and remaining threats.

Key points

What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.

Joe Kent
Kent says he resigned because he concluded he could no longer be effective and could not be part of the war once casualties began returning.
“I couldn't be a part of it once the coffin started coming back from Dover, from overseas to Dover”
Listen from 2:03 · National Counterterrorism Center
Shawn Ryan
Ryan argues the claim that Trump was influenced by Israel is documented in mainstream reporting rather than being a conspiracy theory.
“It's not absurd that you're saying that the president's being influenced by Israel at all. all the publications are talking about this”
Listen from 3:00 · Israel lobby in the United States
Shawn Ryan
Ryan contrasts Israel's reported $6.4 billion spending on the war with far larger U.S. expenditures and questions why America is paying.
“Do you know Israel spent 6.4 billion on this war since March? Do you know how much the US has spent? 18, approximately 18 to 25 billion”
Listen from 5:52 · United States war with Iran
Joe Kent
Kent argues Israel repeatedly sets off actions that force the United States to contribute blood and treasure.
“The Israelis will have their objectives. They will convince senior American officials that this is also their objectives. And if the Americans don't agree, then the Israelis will set off a series of actions that make us react”
Listen from 6:15 · Israel lobby in the United States
Joe Kent
Kent says restraining Israel is the necessary first step toward any peace and that Trump has the power to do it.
“He's got to restrain the Israelis before he can even get the Iranians to the negotiating table”
Listen from 9:28 · United States war with Iran
Joe Kent Came true
Kent is skeptical a ceasefire will hold and fears rapid escalation while combat forces are in theater.
“A ceasefire, I'm skeptical. Again, until the Israelis are restrained, there won't be a ceasefire”
Listen from 12:34 · United States war with Iran
Joe Kent
Kent argues Israeli officials and allied media shifted the American red line from nuclear weapons to any enrichment, which he calls factually wrong.
“So they moved the red line by saying enrichment. Iran can have no enrichment. Enrichment equals a nuclear weapon, which is just fundamentally not true”
Listen from 14:20 · United States war with Iran
Joe Kent
Kent says all U.S. intelligence agencies assessed Iran's religious prohibition on building a nuclear weapon was holding.
“we knew all 18 intelligence agencies agreed that the fatwa against actually making a nuclear weapon was holding and the Iranians were not making a nuclear weapon”
Listen from 16:22 · United States war with Iran
Joe Kent
Kent predicts Iran's new leadership will abandon moderation and pursue a nuclear weapon after the killing of the Supreme Leader.
“now the Iranians more than likely are going to change their strategic outlook. That's my guess”
Listen from 16:34 · United States war with Iran
Joe Kent
Kent says he supported killing Qasem Soleimani but has always opposed a regime change war inside Iran.
“I will debate anybody on the utility of killing Qasem Soleimani. President Trump was justified, and he was correct, and he was bold for killing Qasem Soleimani”
Listen from 22:42 · United States war with Iran
Joe Kent
Kent argues attacking Iran strengthens the IRGC and hardliners through a rally-around-the-flag effect rather than producing moderates.
“they're not gonna be replaced by like a mini Thomas Jefferson. They're gonna be replaced by more and more hardliners”
Listen from 25:05 · Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
Joe Kent
Kent says the United States has no real strategic goal beyond a list of targets, while Israel's goal of toppling the regime is clear.
“we just list off the tactical punch list of things we want to bomb to take out so the Iranians don't have any more. And to me, that's not a real strategic goal”
Listen from 32:54 · United States war with Iran
Joe Kent
Kent warns that putting U.S. troops on Kharg Island would hand Iran a strategic victory and leave troops as sitting ducks.
“there's ballistics, there's drones. They would be sitting ducks in that area”
Listen from 34:48 · United States war with Iran
Joe Kent
Kent says Trump should take advice from the vice president and the Director of National Intelligence rather than Graham, Cruz and Mark Levin.
“he has been taking more advice, obviously, from Lindsey Graham, from Ted Cruz, from Mark Levin on TV”
Listen from 36:55 · United States war with Iran
Joe Kent
Kent argues the war threatens the petrodollar because Gulf states' security guarantees have proven worthless and Iran can force transactions into other currencies.
“So how long do we expect them to continue to settle their transactions in the dollar? So the ramifications of this conflict, I think, are massive”
Listen from 43:13 · Petrodollar system
Joe Kent
Kent says Netanyahu lobbied and testified to Congress that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, helping launder the case for the Iraq War.
“He came and he aggressively lobbied and testified in the House and in the Senate that Saddam was developing weapons of mass destruction”
Listen from 50:52 · Iraq War
Joe Kent
Kent says U.S. support for the Syrian opposition worked with al-Qaeda elements and produced ISIS, the conflict in which his wife was killed.
“the most effective guys initially were Al-Qaeda and then eventually ISIS. Now, obviously, ISIS got out of control”
Listen from 51:43 · Syrian civil war
Linked moment · 58:01Skip to 58:01 using a listen link in the info box.
Joe Kent
Kent argues inspired lone actors, not trained sleeper cells, are the main domestic terrorism threat.
“I think the main threat is people that have come here legally and illegally being inspired by media they consume”
Listen from 58:26 · United States border security and immigration vetting
Joe Kent
Kent testified that NCTC identified 18,000 known or suspected terrorists with access to the United States and says the deeper takeaway is that the government does not know who is in the country.
“I testified publicly in December that we at NCTC had identified 18,000 known suspected terrorists who had access to America”
Listen from 58:29 · United States border security and immigration vetting
Joe Kent
Kent denies leaking classified information and says no one has informed him of an actual investigation.
“I didn't leak any classified information. I had my full security clearance until last week when I walked out the door”
Listen from 1:04:10 · National Counterterrorism Center
Joe Kent
Kent says NCTC was blocked from examining possible links between the Asif Merchant plot and the Butler shooting.
“I wanted to look for potential linkage between those events, was completely shut off and blocked from that”
Listen from 1:07:10 · Butler, Pennsylvania assassination attempt
Joe Kent
Kent says foreign connections in the Kirk assassination were not thoroughly investigated, without alleging a foreign government's involvement.
“The only thing I know for sure is that our due diligence was not done on looking at the foreign links”
Listen from 1:10:54 · Assassination of Charlie Kirk
Joe Kent
Kent recommends conditioning Israel's defensive support on U.S. approval of its operations to force it off the offensive.
“we are going to start taking away features of your defense system to the point where all you can do with your military basically is stay on the defense”
Listen from 1:16:38 · United States war with Iran
Joe Kent
Kent proposes lifting some oil sanctions on Iran as a carrot to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and lower fuel prices.
“I think lifting the sanctions and letting them get a lot of their oil introduced back into the world market I think that's actually a pretty good carrot to get them to the table”
Listen from 1:18:18 · United States war with Iran
Joe Kent Prediction · due Nov 2026
Kent predicts the war's effect on gas prices and cost of living will drive voters against the party in power in the midterms.
“they're gonna be like, oh, the party that's in power right now screwed this up. I'm gonna vote for the other guy”
Listen from 1:32:33 · 2026 United States midterm elections
Joe Kent
Kent says the MAGA coalition is already fractured by the administration's actions and that he is trying to preserve rather than break it.
“I'm not fracturing the coalition the coalition is very fractured because of our actions”
Listen from 1:37:34 · 2026 United States midterm elections
Joe Kent Prediction · due Nov 2028
Kent says he has no plans to run for Congress in the midterms or for president in 2028.
“I have no plans to run for president in 2028. Running for Congress is challenging enough”
Listen from 1:41:44 · 2026 United States midterm elections
Joe Kent
Kent recommends consolidating terrorism screening and vetting into a single clearinghouse at NCTC.
“I think there basically needs to be one central clearinghouse for screening and vetting to decide if someone has ties to a terrorist organization or not”
Listen from 1:54:02 · National Counterterrorism Center
Joe Kent
Kent argues a draft or compulsory service would spread the burden of war and make prolonged conflicts politically impossible.
“if you spread out that burden to the entire country, it makes it almost impossible to keep us at war for a prolonged period”
Listen from 1:57:18 · Conscription in the United States

People

In the conversation

Shawn RyanFormer U.S. Navy SEAL and CIA contractor, host of the Shawn Ryan Show
Joe KentFormer U.S. official who resigned and disputed stated motives for the Iran conflict

Discussed

Donald TrumpPresident of the United States whose conduct of the Iran war is the episode's main subject
Benjamin NetanyahuPrime Minister of Israel
Lindsey GrahamU.S. Senator named by Kelly as an advocate for the Iran war
Ted CruzU.S. senator who called the Druski sketch beneath contempt
Marco RubioU.S. Secretary of State who defended the Iran campaign at a cabinet meeting
Tulsi GabbardDirector of National Intelligence
Mark LevinConservative radio host who pressed for strikes on Iran
Qasem SoleimaniIranian Quds Force commander killed in a 2020 U.S. strike
Ali KhameneiIranian Supreme Leader, described by Kent as killed in the conflict
Steve WitkoffU.S. envoy conducting negotiations with Iran
Shannon KentU.S. Navy senior chief petty officer and Joe Kent's late wife, killed in Syria in 2019
Charlie KirkAmerican conservative activist and podcast host assassinated in September 2025
Thomas CrooksGunman in the Butler, Pennsylvania assassination attempt
Tyler RobinsonSuspect in the Charlie Kirk assassination
Tucker CarlsonConservative broadcaster cited as part of right-wing media
Sarah AdamsFormer CIA targeting officer who has reported on terrorist sleeper cells
Pete HegsethU.S. Secretary of Defense overseeing the Iran campaign
JD VanceVice President of the United States
Miriam AdelsonIsrael-first megadonor said to own an Israeli newspaper that ran a hit piece on Vance
Asif MerchantMan arrested for an Iran-linked plot to assassinate Trump
Bashar al-AssadFormer president of Syria
Saddam HusseinFormer Iraqi leader deposed in the 2003 U.S. invasion
Mike PompeoFormer secretary of state cited as the only U.S. official to state a zero-enrichment policy
Ariel SharonFormer Israeli prime minister
Hillary ClintonFormer U.S. secretary of state, subject of a viral photo discussed by the hosts

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From the publisher

Joe Kent is a retired U.S. Army Special Forces officer, former CIA paramilitary officer, and until recently served as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, stepping down from the post in March 2026 following a principled disagreement over U.S. policy in the Iran war. An Oregon native and graduate of Norwich University in Strategic Defense Analysis, Kent served in the U.S. Army for 20 years, completing 11 combat deployments across the Middle East and other high-threat regions. His military career included service with the 75th Ranger Regiment, Army Special Forces, and U.S. Army Special Operations Command, earning numerous commendations, including six bronze stars. After retiring from the Army in 2018, he served as a paramilitary officer in the CIA's Special Activities Center. Kent brought decades of frontline counterterrorism experience to the role, shaped in part by personal sacrifice: in 2019, his wife, Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Shannon Kent, was killed in a suicide bombing while serving in Syria. Follow the markets: https://polymarket.com/event/us-x-iran-ceasefire-by https://polymarket.com/event/us-forces-enter-iran-by Shawn Ryan Show Sponsors: Live better longer with BUBS Naturals. Get 20% OFF on collagen, MCT creamers, and more with code SHAWN at https://bubsnaturals.com/srs Ready to upgrade your eyewear? Check them out at https://roka.com and use code SRS for 20% off sitewide. Joe Kent Links: X - https://x.com/joekent16jan19 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on September 27, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.

Categories: Politics·Government·News Commentary