Ex-Trump official says US can strengthen deal by cutting military assistance to Israel
Joe Kent, who left the Trump administration after disagreements over the war with Iran, welcomed the ceasefire agreement between Washington and Tehran and called for additional measures to reduce the risk of renewed conflict.
In a post on X, Kent said the chances of the agreement holding could be strengthened if the United States reassessed its military and intelligence support for Israel, arguing that Israeli leaders had opposed efforts to reach a diplomatic settlement.
Kent also called for a reduction of the US military footprint at bases in Gulf countries within range of Iranian missiles.
“We should also quietly get our troops out of the bases in the Gulf that can be reached by Iran,” he wrote, arguing that such a move would reduce opportunities for hardliners to provoke a wider conflict.
He added that Washington should “take away every factor that we can control that could force us back into the war on Israel or Iran’s terms” and focus on creating conditions that favour long-term stability.
We can strengthen our chances of this deal holding by cutting all military/intel assistance to Israel, they took every opportunity to tank this deal & will likely do so again unless we take action.
We should also quietly get our troops out of the bases in the Gulf that can be… https://t.co/IIvIQhUnn1
— Joe Kent (@joekent16jan19) June 14, 2026