Another potential Trump nominee wants US out of Middle East

According to a report by Politico this week, citing two sources, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is considering nominating Joe Kent to serve as director of the National Counterterrorism Center. This move could signify that yet another of Trump's senior officials will advocate for a reduction in the U.S. military presence in the Middle East.

The selection of Kent, a right-wing former congressional candidate, would represent another significant shift in Trump’s national security and foreign policy approach, following his nominations of Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence and Elbridge Colby for a senior policy position at the Pentagon.

A source familiar with the matter told Politico that Kent “understands the need for homeland protection and will be a strong supporter of Tulsi in helping her refocus intelligence efforts to address current threats.” Kent has publicly expressed his views on Middle East foreign policy and has called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the region.

In a podcast interview last year, the former CIA officer criticized the Biden administration for keeping U.S. troops in the Middle East during the Israel-Gaza war, stating that these forces were being used as "bait" for Iranian-backed groups to attack. "We have to get serious, we have to get our troops out of there," Kent said in response to a question about an attack on U.S. forces at a base in Jordan by Iranian-backed paramilitaries in Iraq.

"This idea of further escalating the war by going directly to war with Iran, as advocated by Lindsey Graham and some other neoconservatives, is also extremely dangerous," Kent argued in a 2020 policy paper, stating that the U.S. should not be involved in its ongoing counterterrorism operations aimed at combating ISIS, noting that the Trump administration had already declared ISIS territorially defeated in 2019.

“The post-9/11 wars are no longer effective because they have strayed from the goal of locating and crushing terrorists who pose a threat to the American homeland and have morphed into vague, costly nation-building efforts,” Kent wrote. “The U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have drained American lives, resources, and national will to fight, while distracting from strategic threats like Russia and China.”

Kent, a former CIA officer and retired Green Beret who previously ran unsuccessfully for a congressional seat in Washington state, had a campaign marked by a strong "Make America Great Again" message. In 2022, U.S. media reported that Kent's campaign was linked to white nationalist groups like the Proud Boys, raising concerns.

The President-elect pledged to end Middle East conflicts during his successful presidential campaign. Even before taking office, he was quick to take credit for the ceasefire deal reached between Hamas and Israel, a war that has resulted in over 46,000 Palestinian deaths and devastated much of the civilian infrastructure in the Palestinian enclave. Qatar’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, in his remarks announcing the ceasefire, credited Trump’s Middle East envoy pick, Steve Witkoff.

While Trump's picks for some senior policy positions have been neoconservative politicians like Marco Rubio, he has also nominated some lower-profile individuals who advocate for a non-interventionist foreign policy. The selection of Kent as director of the National Counterterrorism Center follows Trump's nomination of Colby, a former Trump official who has called for reducing the U.S. troop presence in the Middle East and opposes striking Iranian nuclear facilities.

Trump's nomination of Colby contrasts with some of his other picks for national security, defense, and foreign policy positions, who are more hawkish on foreign policy, such as his pick for Secretary of State, Rubio. Colby has publicly written about his foreign policy priorities and has frequently commented on what he believes should be the focus of Washington's national security and military agenda. According to Colby, the focus should be on China, not the Middle East.

“The United States must sharply curtail its strategic involvement in the Middle East. It is both necessary and feasible,” Colby co-wrote in a 2021 article. “The Middle East as a whole is relatively unimportant; its share of global GDP is well below 10%.” However, one exception for both Colby and Kent is Israel. Both have emphasized that U.S. priorities in the region include ensuring the security of Israel.