TEEN ARRAIGNED ON STOLEN VEHICLE CHARGES AS KENSINGTON EXPRESSWAY FATAL CRASH REMAINS UNDER INVESTIGATION

Joe Kent, the former senior intelligence official who resigned from the Trump administration in protest of the Iran war, made a stunning claim Monday that “something” happened to President Donald Trump that “changed” him from that point forward.

“Something in the late spring, early summer time frame happened – I don’t know what happened,” Kent said during an appearance on the “Julian Dorey Podcast” published on Monday.

“I can’t tell you why his mentality changed, but it went from, ‘we’re gonna create the most space we can for [Iran] negotiations and we’re not interested in the war,’ to, ‘okay, we’re gonna support the Israelis, do Midnight Hammer and we’re gonna continue to entertain this.’”

A key pledge of Trump during his 2024 campaign was that he would not send Americans “to fight and die in stupid foreign wars that never end,” reiterating that promise during his victory speech: “I’m not going to start a war,” he said.

And yet, in late February, Trump launched Operation Epic Fury with a large-scale attack on Iran that months later now risks sparking a broader war.

Kent, who's long championed Trump's anti-interventionist rhetoric, said he was confused by the president's apparent shift, and while he could narrow down roughly when it happened, he still couldn't say what caused it.

“I don’t know what happened. And so for me, when something like that happens, from an intelligence background, you do have to step back and look at what else could be influencing the president,” Kent said.

“Did he just change his mind? For him to go through with [launching the Iran war], ultimately, I do think there’s potentially other factors there: so what could those other factors be? Why would a president make decisions that he doesn’t agree with?”

Other conservative figures have speculated as to why Trump launched a war against Iran despite his frequent anti-war rhetoric, including prominent conservative figure Tucker Carlson, who in April floated a disturbing theory that a “blackmail” operation perpetrated by the Israeli government could potentially have forced the president’s hand.

Maine residents told CNN they were outraged on Tuesday after ICE agents fatally shot a 26-year-old father in a car.

Joan Sebastian Durán Guerrero, who was authorized to work in the United States, was shot and killed during a traffic stop in Biddeford, Maine, on Monday. Community members were upset by the fatal shooting and showed support for Guerrero and his family, said CNN correspondent Jason Carroll.

"You always knew it was a possibility here because there's been a heavy presence since January, and especially in this area in Biddeford. And when you hear about this, it's just surreal," one resident told CNN.

"This could be happening to any one of us, any one of us. He's a 26-year-old with a child. He has a legitimate reason for being here. He had social security. It's horrific," another local told CNN.

The Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General will be leading the investigation into the fatal shooting, along with the FBI and Maine Attorney General's Office, Carroll reported.

"Those whom we have told about who will be heading up the investigation still have a great deal of distrust against the federal government, given all that has happened," he added. "They have a lot of questions that they're hoping will be answered in this investigation, namely, why was there the use of deadly force? That's for a second. Why were the officers not using body-worn cameras? And why was this man targeted?"