Skip to content

Happening Now

WATCH: White House press briefing with Vice President J.D. Vance

TRENDING:
Donald Trump
Advertisement
Author profile
Ben Wolfgang

Ben Wolfgang

bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com

Ben Wolfgang is a national security correspondent at The Washington Times, a senior member of its Threat Status team, and the host and producer of the award-winning Threat Status Podcast. Ben covers national security, foreign policy, military affairs, the defense industry and the rapidly evolving landscape of military technology.
A Pennsylvania native, he joined The Washington Times in 2011 after serving as a political reporter at The Republican-Herald in Pottsville, Pa. Over the course of his career, Ben has covered the White House, Congress, and four presidential campaigns.
His reporting has earned recognition from some of journalism's most respected organizations, including the Virginia Press Association and the Society of Professional Journalists' Washington, D.C. Chapter, among other honors.
Ben has interviewed heads of state, chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, senior military commanders, cabinet secretaries, senior government officials, and the CEOs of many of the nation's largest and most influential defense companies.
Ben is a frequent guest on broadcast media, with appearances on C-SPAN, the Sirius XM POTUS channel, and other outlets.
He can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Ben Wolfgang

U.S. President Barack Obama, right, and Russia's President Vladimir Putin head into a bilateral meeting Monday, Sept. 28, 2015, at United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) ** FILE **

Vladimir Putin, Obama spar over Syria at United Nations

President Obama and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin tried to downplay personal and policy tensions during a rare face-to-face meeting Monday in New York, but fierce disagreements bubbled to the surface in competing speeches to an audience of other world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly.

September 28, 2015
President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping walk through the Colonnade of the White House in Washington, Friday, Sept. 25, 2015, for a news conference in the Rose Garden. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Cybersecurity deal with China called small step

President Obama claimed victory on cybersecurity after last week's meeting with his Chinese counterpart, and said he's received assurances China no longer will tacitly support the hacking of American companies -- but analysts say the deal is only a small step in the right direction and does not guarantee either nation will cease all forms of spying or cybertheft.

September 27, 2015
FILE - In this Jan. 19, 2011 file photo, President Barack Obama listens as China's President Hu Jintao speaks during a state arrival on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington. Another visited Disneyland and Hollywood. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to the U.S. mid-September, 2015, is the latest in a string of visits made over the years by China’s leaders since formal diplomatic relations were established between Washington and Beijing in 1979. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

Obama: Chinese have agreed to stop cyberattacks

President Obama announced Friday that the U.S. and Chinese governments have reached an agreement to not "conduct or knowingly support" cyberattacks against each other.

September 25, 2015
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy is sworn on on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, prior to testifying before a joint House Oversight and Government Reform and Natural Resources Committees hearing on the Gold King mine spill. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke) **FILE**

Gina McCarthy, EPA administrator, takes pope’s message on climate to Notre Dame

The Obama administration is wasting no time wrapping itself in Pope Francis's call for dramatic action on climate change, deploying Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy to the University of Notre Dame Friday to again make the case the U.S. has a "moral obligation" to rein in greenhouse gas emissions.

September 24, 2015
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, speaks with FIFA President Sepp Blatter during their meeting before the 2018 World Cup preliminary draw in the Konstantin palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, July 25, 2015. (Maxim Shipenkov/Pool Photo via AP) ** FILE **

White House criticizes Vladimir Putin’s posture

The White House on Thursday criticized Vladimir Putin's posture and said the Russian president has perfected the image of someone who is laid back, perhaps even bored, during meetings with international leaders.

September 24, 2015
American Catholics are "concerned that efforts to build a just and wisely ordered society respect their deepest concerns and the right to religious liberty," Pope Francis told President Obama at the arrival ceremony in his honor at the White House. (Associated Press)

Pope Francis lectures Obama on religious liberty

Pope Francis called for American leadership Wednesday in combating climate change, embracing immigrants and caring for the poor, using his unparalleled pulpit to sound solidarity with President Obama on a host of issues -- but the pontiff also poked the White House on religious liberty, and insisted pro-life and family causes were at the center of his visit.

September 23, 2015
In this Sept. 19, 2015, file photo, President Barack Obama speaks at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundations 45th Annual Legislative Conference Phoenix Awards Dinner at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

Obama calls out ‘folks like John McCain’ on climate change

President Obama believes "folks like John McCain" are responsible for the 2009 death of cap-and-trade legislation, a political failure by the White House and Capitol Hill Democrats that has ultimately led to a host a new climate-change regulations from the president's Environmental Protection Agency.

September 23, 2015
President Barack Obama shakes hands with Pope Francis after this welcoming speech during the state arrival ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2015. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Pope Francis welcomed, lauded by Obama at White House

With a level of pomp and circumstance rare even in Washington, President Obama welcomed Pope Francis to the White House Wednesday and praised the pontiff for leading on a host of social and moral issues.

September 23, 2015
First lady Michelle Obama, accompanied by President Obama, greets Pope Francis upon his arrival at Andrews Air Force Base on Tuesday. (AP Photo)

Pope Francis brings brief political truce to Washington

Raucous cheers erupted Tuesday as Pope Francis set foot in the U.S. for the first time, kicking off a six-day, three-city American tour that promises to dominate the headlines and present politicians with the chance to bask in the "glow" of association with the popular pontiff.

September 22, 2015
Pope Francis talks with President Barack Obama, accompanied by first lady Michelle Obama, after arriving at Andrews Air Force Base in Md., Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015. The Pope is spending three days in Washington before heading to New York and Philadelphia. This is the Pope's first visit to the United States. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Pope Francis lands in U.S. to begin six-day, three-city visit

As onlookers erupted with cheers, Pope Francis on Tuesday afternoon set foot in the U.S. for the first time as pontiff and was greeted by President Obama, Vice President Joseph R. Biden, other administration officials and a raucous crowd of supporters.

September 22, 2015
Illustration on the climate change debate by Nancy Ohanian/Tribune Content Agency

Republican candidates turn climate change into debate on economy

Last week's Republican presidential debate may have provided a window into how GOP candidates will handle the thorny issue of climate change, with a number of White House hopefuls skirting a debate on the science of global warming and instead taking aim at the costs and consequences of President Obama's prescription to save the planet -- a strategy that some analysts say cedes the issue to Democrats.

September 21, 2015