On Monday, President Donald Trump drew immediate criticism after Fox News abruptly cut away from his live remarks when he pivoted to personal insults aimed at Joe Kent, the former National Counterterrorism Center director who stepped down last week amid disputes over the administration’s approach to Iran.
While speaking to reporters at a press gaggle outside Air Force One, he was queried about rumors that Kent is under FBI scrutiny for allegedly leaking information. Rather than addressing the probe, he unleashed a sharp, increasingly personal attack on the former official.
“Look, I’m not a fan of the guy,” Trump said to reporters. “If you look at his statements, he was all for everything. All of a sudden, he wasn’t.”
Trump then repeatedly brought up Kent’s late wife, Shannon Kent, who was killed in a January 2019 suicide bombing in Syria while serving as a Navy intelligence officer, referencing her death multiple times during a roughly three-minute response.
“He was a man that I met at Dover … his wife was killed,” Trump said. “He remarried fairly quickly. His wife was killed, and I felt badly for him.” Kent remarried Heather Kaiser Kent in August 2023.
The president also pointed to Kent’s failed congressional bids in Washington state in 2022 and 2024, suggesting his White House role was given out of sympathy rather than merit.
“He ran for Congress. He lost. He ran again, and he lost,” Trump said. “I said, ‘You know, he’s a nice guy.’”
Trump went further, framing Kent’s appointment as a personal favor tied to his loss.
“Since he lost his wife, I felt badly for him, so I told my people, ‘Give him a job in the White House,’” Trump added. “And this is what he does to me?!” Trump wondered.
“This is the thanks I get.”
At one point, reporters tried to interject, but Trump continued. “I know that he lost his life. So instead of having him live out his life, I brilliantly had my people call him. And offer him a job in security, essentially.”
Fox News, which had been airing the remarks live, cut away and returned to anchor Dana Perino as Trump continued to rail in the background.
“President Trump taking many, many questions there outside of Air Force One,” Perino said, pivoting away from the exchange.
Trump continued taking questions for several minutes after the network switched feeds.
Kent’s resignation has added to growing tension surrounding the administration’s military posture toward Iran. In a resignation letter, the decorated Army Special Forces veteran and former CIA officer argued that the threat had been overstated.
“Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation,” Kent wrote, directly contradicting the administration’s justification for recent military actions.
He also warned against further escalation in the region, saying he could not support sending U.S. troops into a conflict that “serves no benefit to the American people.”
The conflict, which began Feb. 28, has resulted in thousands of deaths across the Middle East and at least 13 U.S. service members killed.
After announcing his departure, Kent became a target of an FBI investigation into alleged leaks, though officials have not publicly confirmed details.
By Monday afternoon, clips of Trump’s remarks were circulating widely, with critics focusing on his repeated references to Kent’s late wife while responding to a question about national security.
What began as a question about an investigation quickly shifted into a broader and more personal attack, one that even Fox News appeared unwilling to carry in full.
