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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

(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Obama sets firm timetable on immigration reform

President Obama on Thursday night gave himself a concrete timetable to take executive action on immigration reform, vowing to act between the November midterm elections and the end of the year.

October 2, 2014
President Barack Obama speaks about the economy, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2014, at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. Obama is looking to frame the closing economic arguments of the midterm campaign. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Obama takes a shot at Fox News

President Obama on Thursday took a direct shot at Fox News, alleging that the network is spreading untruths about his signature health care reform law and ignoring the fact that it's working well for most Americans.

October 2, 2014
Secret Service Director Julia Pierson testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014, before the House Oversight Committee as it examines details surrounding a security breach at the White House when a man climbed over a fence, sprinted across the north lawn and dash deep into the executive mansion before finally being subdued.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Julia Pierson resigns as Secret Service director

Secret Service Director Julia A. Pierson resigned Wednesday amid intense pressure from lawmakers on Capitol Hill who feared the president and his family were being endangered by security lapses — highlighted by an intruder forcing his way into the White House last month.

October 1, 2014
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu listens as President Barack Obama speaks in the Oval Office of the White House Oct. 1, 2014. The two leaders have long had a prickly relationship. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) **FILE**

Netanyahu presses Obama on nuclear Iran

Amid reports the White House may soften its stance toward Iran's nuclear program, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a stern message to President Obama on Wednesday and stressed that the American leader must take a hard line going forward.

October 1, 2014
President Obama meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington, D.C., to discuss bilateral trade relations and the possibility of reviving nuclear energy talks, however, India's liability laws may scuttle such plans. Mr. Modi maintained he is open to changing those laws. (Associated Press)

Nuclear liability laws strain U.S.-India energy policy

President Obama and his Indian counterpart pledged Tuesday to cooperate on nuclear energy, but specialists say Indian liability laws have made progress virtually impossible and have rendered moot a landmark 2008 agreement between the two countries.

September 30, 2014
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is making his first visit to Washington, D.C., this week. He had a private dinner with President Obama Monday night, though the White House wouldn't say whether intellectual property reform was on the agenda. (Associated Press)

India’s Narendra Modi pressed to address intellectual property reforms

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared that his nation is "open for business," but some U.S. industry leaders remain troubled by India's policy toward intellectual property rights and question whether the new leader, making his first visit to Washington this week, will follow through on his promise to address the problem.

September 29, 2014
President Barack Obama pauses as he speaks about the participation of five Arab nations in airstrikes against militants in Syria., Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014, on the South Lawn the White House, in Washington, before heading to the United Nations. The president said the participation of five Arab nations in airstrikes against militants in Syria "makes it clear to the world this is not America's fight alone."  (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Obama: ‘I recognize the contradiction’ of policy toward Syria, Islamic State

One year after nearly ordering airstrikes against the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad, President Obama said Sunday he's aware U.S. policy now is somewhat contradictory, as the American air campaign against the Islamic State in Syria will directly benefit an Assad regime that continues to murder its own people in a bloody civil war.

September 28, 2014
President Barack Obama speaks at the Global Health Security Agenda Summit, Friday, Sept. 26, 2014, in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington. The president said that in an interconnected world, outbreaks of deadly viruses like Ebola have the potential to affect every nation. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Obama says Democrats will keep Senate once people know the facts

President Obama said Sunday that those who believe Democrats will suffer in November because of this administration's track record on the economy are mistaken and that he willing to "put my record against any leader around the world."

September 28, 2014
"Climate action is not just a defensive play, it advances the ball. We can turn our challenge into an opportunity to modernize our power sector and build a low-carbon economy that will fuel growth for decades to come," Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy said Thursday in a speech at Resources for the Future, a nonprofit research organization. (Associated Press)

EPA chief pushes green energy agenda, ignores high electricity costs that result

Gina McCarthy argued Thursday that her home state of Massachusetts is proof you can cut greenhouse gas emissions while fostering economic prosperity, but the Environmental Protection Agency administrator failed to mention the apparent trade-off for consumers: dramatically higher electricity prices.

September 25, 2014
U.S. President Barack Obama addresses the Climate Summit at United Nations headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) **FILE**

At U.N., Obama calls out China, India on carbon emissions

President Obama on Tuesday cast the U.S. — and, by extension, himself — as the leader of a vital global mission to combat climate change and chastised nations such as China and India which so far have not followed in his footsteps.

September 23, 2014
Vice President Joe Biden gestures during a speech to mark the 40th anniversary of the Legal Services Corporation in Washington, on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Joe Biden’s White House hopes need a Hillary Clinton mistake

Joseph R. Biden's 2016 presidential ambitions already look like they have been swallowed whole by the Hillary Rodham Clinton juggernaut, but political analysts say the vice president still has a narrow path to victory — one that depends on either out-politicking the former first lady in crucial states such as Iowa or praying she makes a grave mistake.

September 18, 2014