NCTC Director Joe Kent

The terrorist threat posed by Biden’s failed open borders is real and persistent. Americans should know this: President Trump is using every counterterrorism capability we have to hunt narcoterrorists, dismantle criminal gangs and cartels, and restore safety across our nation.

As the Iran conflict continues to unfold, @ODNIGov’s National Counterterrorism Center is engaged and operating at full capacity, 24/7. We are tracking developments in real time, assessing any potential risks to the homeland, identifying emerging threats, and providing timely, actionable intelligence to the White House, law enforcement, and interagency partners to detect and prevent attacks against the American people. Alongside those same partners, NCTC is acutely aware and relentlessly focused on flagging and eliminating the persistent threat to our homeland posed by thousands of individuals with terrorist ties who poured into our nation unchecked during four years of open borders under Biden. Constant vigilance is a must. Stay aware of your surroundings, and if you see something suspicious, report it immediately to local law enforcement. Every one of us has a role to play in keeping this nation secure.

I just spent several days forward-deployed at the southern border with our NCTC team, interagency partners, and Mexican partners. This team works 24/7/365 to dismantle narco-terrorism threats before they reach our homeland. Thanks to @POTUS and @DNIGabbard’s strong leadership—and the unrelenting resolve of this team—we are making real progress in keeping Americans safe from cartels. @TxDPS @USEmbassyMEX @CPB BORTAC @JTF_North @FBIElPaso @GregAbbott_TX

Last year, @POTUS ordered NCTC to reverse the damage caused by Joe Biden’s reckless open border policies. Since then, thousands of terrorist thugs have been stopped, detained, denied entry, or removed from U.S. soil. Under @DNIGabbard’s leadership and the relentless work of NCTC, this administration is securing the homeland again. The results speak for themselves:

No greater love than to lay down one’s life for others 🇺🇸 Our appreciation is forever with Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, who sacrificed her life for our nation, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe who was wounded in service. Tonight, @POTUS awarded Wolfe and Beckstrom’s family the Purple Heart.

This is what the southern border looked like under Joe Biden. Now, the border is totally secured — and Border Patrol has released ZERO illegal aliens into the interior of the country for nine consecutive months. That's the Trump Effect.

.@POTUS: “After four years, in which millions and millions of illegal aliens poured across our borders totally unvetted and unchecked, we now have the strongest and most secure border in American history.” At President Trump's direction, patriots at our National Counterterrorism Center are working around the clock to screen and vet terrorist cartels and gangs, ensuring these criminals stay out of the homeland —and Americans stay safe.

MISSION UPDATE: The Intelligence Community is refocusing on its mission under @POTUS, and the State of our Union is stronger for it. This year, @ODNIgov surged counterterrorism operations, exposed deep state corruption, strengthened intelligence partnerships, and began directing intelligence resources towards American economic dominance. There is more to be done, and we look forward to continuing our mission alongside President Trump to rebuild an Intelligence Community that bolsters national and economic security and answers to the Constitution and the American people.

President Trump pledged to eradicate waste, fraud, and abuse throughout the government. At @ODNIgov, that commitment led to historic change: streamlining our workforce by 40%, shutting down unnecessary facilities and contracts, and saving taxpayers more than $700 million.

On Day One of his presidency, @POTUS promised to deliver accountability through transparency by declassifying long-withheld government secrets and evidence of wrongdoing to restore trust in our federal agencies. Half a million documents declassified in year one alone. -JFK -RFK -MLK -Amelia Earhart -Russia hoax -Weaponization And soon, files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, UAPs, and UFOs.

🕘🇺🇸SOTU COUNTDOWN: This is what America FIRST leadership looks like. @POTUS designated violent cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, enabling our National Counterterrorism Center to deploy two decades of counterterrorism expertise against narco-terrorists. We are dismantling their networks and protecting American lives.

Our successful transfer of nearly 6,000 ISIS detainees from Syria to Iraq represents a major accomplishment in America's fight against ISIS — one that was achieved through tireless coordination between the Iraqi and Syrian governments, NCTC, @StateDept and @DeptofWar. We never lost sight of the threat of ISIS, worked endless hours to support our warfighters and partners on the ground, and executed on President Trump's vision that was two administrations in the making. My sincerest gratitude is with every NCTC officer who supported the around-the-clock intelligence analysis needed for this mission. Constant vigilance is a must, which is why we remain focused on protecting the safety and security of the American people.

This prisoner population is big concern to the counterterrorism community. @CENTCOM successful completition of the transfers between Syria and Iraq with coordination and support on the ground from @NCTCKent @joekent16jan19 is a significant national security achievement.

Honored to serve alongside @DNIGabbard as she marks one year leading the Intelligence Community with unwavering commitment to America’s safety and security. Thank you, DNI Gabbard — proud to be in the fight with you. Onward! 🇺🇸

One year ago, I raised my right hand and took the oath to serve as Director of National Intelligence. I am honored and grateful for the responsibility and trust placed in me by @POTUS and the American people.

I was honored to join the U.S. delegation led by Ambassador Tom Barrack, alongside colleagues from @DeptofWar and @StateDept, at the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS meeting hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Coalition is committed to the enduring defeat of ISIS, the removal of ISIS detainees from Syria, and the peaceful integration of the Syrian Democratic Forces into the Syrian government. I join the Coalition and @CJTFOIR in thanking @IraqiGovt for its leadership in relocating these dangerous detainees.

For nearly a week, the complainant’s attorney has falsely claimed that @DNIGabbard “violated the law.” This is a slanderous lie. Today, @ODNIgov’s General Counsel lays out the facts: 1) Neither the Biden-era nor Trump-appointed Intelligence Community Inspector General ever found his client’s allegations credible. 2) His client was informed within three days that DNI Gabbard had provided required security guidance. 3) His client remains an IC employee and has the right to report the “fact of” existence — not the contents — of the complaint to Congress. 4) The whistleblower’s rights do not extend to the attorney himself. 5) Due to the highly classified nature of the information involved, which the attorney is not cleared to review, ODNI correctly required the IC IG to hand-deliver the complaint ONLY to the Gang of Eight. Any allegations to the contrary are baseless, and frankly, theatrical. Read more here 👇

Senator Mark Warner and his friends in the Propaganda Media have repeatedly lied to the American people that I or the ODNI “hid” a whistleblower complaint in a safe for eight months. This is a blatant lie. The truth: - I am not now, nor have I ever been, in possession or control of the Whistleblower’s complaint, so I obviously could not have “hidden” it in a safe. Biden-era IC Inspector General Tamara Johnson was in possession of and responsible for securing the complaint for months. - The first time I saw the whistleblower complaint was 2 weeks ago when I had to review it to provide guidance on how it should be securely shared with Congress. - As Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Warner knows very well that whistleblower complaints that contain highly classified and compartmented intelligence—even if they contain baseless allegations like this one—must be secured in a safe, which the Biden-era Inspector General Tamara Johnson did and her successor, Inspector General Chris Fox, continued to do. After IC Inspector General Fox hand-delivered the complaint to the Gang of 8, the complaint was returned to a safe where it remains, consistent with any information of such sensitivity. - Either Senator Warner knows these facts and is intentionally lying to the American people, or he doesn’t have a clue how these things work and is therefore not qualified to be in the U.S. Senate—and certainly not the Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Here is a detailed chronology of the situation: - June 2025, I became aware that a whistleblower made a complaint against me that after further investigation, neither Biden-era IC Inspector General Tamara Johnson nor current IC Inspector General Chris Fox found the complaint to be credible. - The complaint required special handling and storage in a safe because the complainant chose to include highly sensitive information within the complaint itself rather than referencing the sensitive reporting and leaving the complaint at a lower level of classification. - Security standards for complaints that include such sensitive intelligence required the Inspector General to keep the complaint and the intelligence referenced secured in a safe from the time the complaint was made, until now. - In June 2025 after Biden-era Inspector General Tamara Johnson completed her review of the complaint, no further oversight or investigative activity took place. - Biden-era Inspector General Johnson had communicated with me directly throughout the course of her investigation into this complaint, yet neither she nor anyone from her office informed me that the Whistleblower chose to send the complaint to Congress which would require me to issue security instructions. - When a complaint is not found to be credible, there is no timeline under the law for the provision of security guidance. The "21 day" requirement that Senator Warner alleges I did not comply with, only applies when a complaint is determined by the Inspector General to be both urgent AND apparently credible. That was NOT the case here. - I was made aware of the need to provide security guidance by IC Inspector General Chris Fox on December 4, 2025, which he detailed in his letter to Congress. - I took immediate action to provide the security guidance to the Intelligence Community Inspector General who then shared the complaint and referenced intelligence with relevant members of Congress last week. Senator Warner's decision to spread lies and baseless accusations over the months for political gain, undermines our national security and is a disservice to the American people and the Intelligence Community.

Terrorists count on time and distance to protect them. They’re wrong. If you target Americans, you stay on the board until you’re dealt with. Benghazi left a lasting mark on our nation. Today, we remember the four patriots who made the ultimate sacrifice. We will continue to hunt down the rest of this terrorist network and ensure that justice is served.