Joe Kent, who once served as President Donald Trump’s chief counterterrorism advisor, recently shared his concerns about the FBI’s actions during an investigation into the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Kent, who resigned amidst the ongoing conflict with Iran, expressed his doubts during an appearance on Tucker Carlson’s podcast.

Kent, formerly the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, revealed that his confidence in Trump waned after suspecting that the President was misled into the Iran conflict by Israel. His departure from the administration coincides with a critical period for Trump, who recently distanced himself from Israel following controversial strikes on an Iranian gas field. These strikes ignited tensions, leading to retaliatory attacks on U.S. allies in the Arab world.

During his podcast interview with Carlson, Kent recounted Kirk’s poignant last words: “Joe, stop us from getting into a war with Iran.” This statement underscores the gravity of Kirk’s concerns before his untimely death.

Text messages from Kirk hint that he had grown increasingly critical of Israel in the months leading to his assassination. These revelations have spurred conspiracy theories, questioning whether his death was the work of a lone gunman.

While Kent speculated about the possible involvement of foreign and domestic entities in Kirk’s assassination, he stopped short of providing concrete evidence or directly implicating Israel in the tragic incident.

Kent suggested that there were foreign entities and potentially other domestic powers that were somehow involved in Kirk’s death, but did not provide any evidence or explicitly blame Israel.

Kent did say that Kirk ‘was under a lot of pressure from a lot of pro-Israel donors.’

A law enforcement source familiar with the FBI’s investigation into the assassination told the Daily Mail that Kent would often walk into meetings and make unsupported, outlandish claims that it was foreign actors who killed Kirk.

‘During the early stages of the Charlie Kirk investigation he would walk in meetings, without any information or evidence, and speculate that Iran had killed Charlie – as a senior NCTC official. And when asked for evidence he had none,’ the source detailed. 

Former National Counterterrorism Center Director suggested that foreign entities and the ‘pro-Israel’ lobby was somehow involved in Charlie Kirk’s assassination

Kent said Kirk’s last words to him were: ‘Joe, stop us from getting into a war with Iran.’ Pictured Charlie and Erika Kirk pose together in front of the Presidential Seal from an Instagram post made by Erika in January 2025

Kent questioned the lone gunman narrative that 22-year-old Tyler Robinson was the sole person responsible for assassinating Kirk

An FBI spokesperson declined to comment on Kent’s claims. And the White House did not respond to the Daily Mail’s request for comment on the former NCTC chief’s interview. 

Kent called into question the conclusion that Kirk was killed by 22-year-old gunman Tyler Robinson at Utah Valley University on September 10.

‘Charlie Kirk was killed publicly in a very horrific way and we’re not really even allowed to look into that at all,’ Kent lamented to Carlson in an interview the day after his resignation.

‘We’ve been told that this individual – Robinson – is a lone gunman, and maybe he is,’ he admitted, before adding, ‘But the investigation that I was a part of – the National Terrorism Center was a part of – we were stopped from continuing to investigate.’

He said that the FBI prevented the NCTC, which falls under the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, from continuing its probe because they wanted to turn everything over to authorities in Utah.

‘But there was still a lot for us to look into that I can’t really get into,’ Kent told Carlson. ‘There was still linkage for us to investigate, that we needed to run down.’

‘I’m not making any conclusions… There’s unanswered questions,’ he said.

Kent said in a post to X on Tuesday that he could not ‘in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran’ through his role under Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

‘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,’ he wrote in his resignation letter.

Kent sat for an interview on Tucker Carlson’s podcast the day after he publicly resigned as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, claiming he could not ‘in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran’

Kent said in his podcast with Carlson that Kirk, the conservative luminary who helmed Turning Point USA, was one of ‘Trump’s closest advisers.’

‘He also advocated heavily against a war with Iran. He was in the Oval Office in the lead-up to the 12-day war,’ Kent noted of the conflict in Iran back in June 2025.

‘The last time I saw Charlie Kirk on this earth was in June in the West Wing in the stairway. And I said hi to him and he looked me in the eye and said very loudly… ‘Joe, stop us from getting into a war with Iran,’ Kent said.

He added: ‘Charlie was under a lot of pressure from a lot of pro-Israel donors. And, again, we know Charlie was advocating to President Trump against this war with Iran.’

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth hit back at the war’s critics at a press briefing on Thursday, slamming the media and America’s allies for having ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome.’ 

The Defense Secretary tore into the press who ‘want President Trump to fail,’ but said that the American people ‘know better.’

He lashed out at ‘ungrateful allies in Europe’, claiming that the entire world ‘should be saying one thing to President Trump: Thank You.’

Hegseth’s meltdown comes as skyrocketing oil prices have triggered fresh inflation warnings from central banks including the Federal Reserve.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth holds a briefing with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine, amid the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 19

Hegseth at the Pentagon Thursday

Markets have taken fright after Iran struck a massive Qatar gas field in response to an Israeli attack – sending oil and gas prices spiking

Gasoline has surged to an average of $3.90 per gallon from $2.90 before the conflict began three weeks ago, while the Strait of Hormuz – through which a fifth of the world’s oil flows – remains blockaded by Iranian mines and missiles.

US crude jumped by 1.5 percent on Thursday, while Brent crude – the global benchmark – shot up by 5.9 percent, hitting $114 per barrel.

Hegseth insisted the war in Iran – which has so far killed 13 US troops and wounded 140 more across the Middle East – would not be the ‘quagmire’ of Iraq and Afghanistan, the legacy of ‘foolish politicians like Bush, Obama and Biden.’

The bravado came hours after Trump accused Israel of ‘lashing out in anger’ and claimed that the US ‘knew nothing of the attack’ which resulted in the bombing of energy sites in Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Trump has previously asked Israel to refrain from strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure amid growing concern over soaring prices as he faces crucial midterm elections in November.

America’s Arab allies were furious at Israel’s attack and the US failure to prevent it.  

Gulf allies demanded the Trump administration halt all US and Israeli strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

Gulf officials said they feel as though Israeli strikes have left them vulnerable in the war. 

In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, Trump threatened to ‘massively blow up the entirety’ of Iran’s South Pars gas field if it continues to target refineries. 

An Israeli Air Force AH-64 Apache attack helicopter fires rockets while flying along the border between northern Israel and southern Lebanon on March 18

This US Navy handout photo released on March 18, 2026 by US Central Command public affairs, shows US sailors observing as an F/A-18E Super Hornet aircraft, assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 31, approaches the flight deck of the world’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), during Operation Epic Fury

A fireball rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in Beirut’s Bashoura neighborhood early on March 18

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth holds a briefing amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, March 2

This US Navy handout photo released on March 18, 2026 by US Central Command public affairs, shows US sailors taxiing an F/A-18F Super Hornet, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 41, on the flight deck aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), in support of Operation Epic Fury

AMiddle East Airlines aircraft takes off from the airport in Beirut as smoke rises from the site of an Israeli air strike that targeted an area in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital on March 17

Hegseth holds a briefing with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine, amid the US-Israeli war on Iran, at the Pentagon in Washington, March 19

This US Navy handout photo released on March 18, 2026 by US Central Command public affairs, shows a US Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 151, flies over Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), during Operation Epic Fury

A handout satellite image from Landsat-8/9, made available by the US Geological Survey on March 17, 2026, shows smoke billowing from the Mina Petroleum facility at Salalah Port in Oman on March 16

The interior of a destroyed apartment, with the Tel Aviv skyline visible in the background, following an overnight Iranian missile strike on March 19

Trump speaks to U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine as he departs the White House on March 18

‘Israel, out of anger for what has taken place in the Middle East, has violently lashed out at a major facility known as South Pars Gas Field in Iran,’ Trump wrote.

‘The United States knew nothing about this particular attack, and the country of Qatar was in no way, shape, or form, involved with it, nor did it have any idea that it was going to happen.’ 

An Iranian official likened that developments to a ‘full-scale economic war.’

Trump drew a red line on Israeli attacks on South Pars before lobbing a massive threat at Tehran. 

‘NO MORE ATTACKS WILL BE MADE BY ISRAEL pertaining to this extremely important and valuable South Pars Field,’ Trump said.

If Iran attacked Qatar again, Trump said, all bets were off and he would unleash devastating force.