Ric Grenell Says Veteran Joe Kent Just Needed to ‘Shut Up and Salute’ Instead of Resigning From Trump Admin Over Iran War

Trump official Ric Grenell suggested on Tuesday that U.S. Army veteran Joe Kent needed to just “shut up and salute” instead of resigning from his position in the Trump administration in protest over President Donald Trump’s war against Iran.

Reacting to Kent’s resignation as director of the National Counterterrorism Center on Newsmax’s Greg Kelly Reports, Grenell said, “All of the appointees need to realize it’s not about them. It’s not their policy. They need to shut up and salute.”

He continued:

If you can’t work for the president of the United States and his policies, or her policies in the future, then what you have to do is get out of the way because I don’t have any patience for these people who don’t like the policy or don’t want to implement the policy. Well, then you shouldn’t get paid by the federal government. I think every single person who works in the federal government should sign up to implement the president’s policy, and if it’s a Democrat or a Republican, you have to implement the policy. But we have too many people with big egos in Washington that somehow think they get to stop the policy, or “I have an opinion that matters.” President Trump is somebody who in private wants to hear everyone’s opinion. He works to make sure there is a diverse opinion, that people talk it out, fight it out, argue it out in front of him, and then he makes a decision, and when you leave that room, everyone should go implement it.

Grenell concluded, “So I don’t think that Joe Kent should be surprised at where the president of the United States was going, and you know, at some point, you get out of the way or really, more importantly, you don’t take the job unless you’re gonna implement the president’s policies.”

Grenell currently serves as Trump’s Special Presidential Envoy for Special Missions and previously served in a number of other roles under Trump, including U.S. Ambassador to Germany, Director of National Intelligence, and president of the Kennedy Center. Grenell also served in former President George W. Bush’s administration.

Kent – a veteran who served on 11 combat tours, including in Iraq – announced his resignation from the Trump administration on Tuesday in a letter expressing opposition to the war in Iran.

“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. 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,” wrote Kent. “As a veteran who deployed to combat 11 times and as a Gold Star husband who lost my beloved wife Shannon in a war manufactured by Israel, I cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people nor justifies the cost of American lives.”

He concluded by urging Trump to “reflect upon what we are doing in Iran, and who we are doing it for,” and to “reverse course and chart a new path for our nation.”

As of reporting, Kent’s letter has received nearly 800,000 likes on Elon Musk’s social media platform X.

Watch above via Newsmax.

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