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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

President Barack Obama speaks at the US Africa Business Forum during the US Africa Leaders Summit, in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014. Aiming to sidestep a logjam in Congress, the Obama administration is looking for steps it could take on its own to prevent American companies from reincorporating overseas to shirk U.S. taxes, officials said. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Obama: African Ebola outbreak can be overcome

Despite reports that African nations are overwhelmed by the deadly Ebola outbreak, President Obama on Wednesday expressed optimism that nations such as Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia eventually will get a handle on the worsening situation.

August 6, 2014
Going Solo: President Obama carries low job approval ratings that have Democrats steering clear of him on the campaign trail and at fundraising events. (White House)

Obama: ‘The blood of Africa runs through our family’

Speaking to more than 40 African leaders assembled at the White House, President Obama said Tuesday night that he and his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters share a strong, personal bond with Africa and declared that the continent is "rising and so full of promise."

August 5, 2014
White House press secretary Josh Earnest says that Congress should take the necessary steps to close the loopholes that American companies use to move their headquarters overseas as a way to avoid paying corporate taxes. (associated press)

Obama may use executive action on tax code

Under growing pressure from some Senate Democrats, the White House on Tuesday left open the possibility President Obama will use executive authority to reform the nation's tax code.

August 5, 2014
President Barack Obama pauses as he speaks at the US Africa Business Forum during the US Africa Leaders Summit, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014, at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington. African heads of state are gathering in Washington for an unprecedented summit to promote business development. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Obama announces $33B in commitments to Africa

President Obama on Tuesday announced $14 billion in new private-sector commitments to Africa and additional billions of dollars in U.S. government support, but critics fear parts of the new initiative may actually hurt, not help, life on the continent.

August 5, 2014
Vice President Joseph R. Biden opened the U.S. Africa Summit Monday by lecturing the leaders on the importance of clearing out corruption from their governments. President Obama has gathered nearly 50 African heads of state in Washington for an unprecedented summit. (Associated Press)

Joe Biden opens Africa summit with corruption warning

Vice President Joseph R. Biden on Monday lectured dozens of visiting African leaders on the need to clean up the "cancer" of corruption in their governments, but some analysts say the U.S. can do very little to solve the problem and in some cases has contributed to corruption by funneling monetary aid to unstable governments or dictators.

August 4, 2014
President Barack Obama speaks about the economy, Wednesday, July 30, 2014, at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

House votes to sue President Obama over claims of presidential power

President Obama mocked Republicans for "just hatin' all the time" as the House voted to authorize an unprecedented lawsuit against the commander in chief, escalating a battle between Congress and the White House that is heavily tinged with election-year politics.

July 30, 2014
President Barack Obama arrives to speak about the economy, Wednesday, July 30, 2014, at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Obama to Republicans: ‘Stop just hatin’ all the time’

President Obama on Wednesday told Republicans to "stop just hatin' all the time" and work with Democrats to help raise the nation's minimum wage, pass an infrastructure investment bill and take other steps to help the middle class.

July 30, 2014
Retired coal miner Stanley Sturgill of Harlan County, Kentucky, testifies that coal fired power plants are a danger to public health, on the first of two days of public hearings held by the Environmental Protection Agency on President Barack Obama's plan to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 30 percent by 2030, in Denver, Tuesday, July 29, 2014. In hearings, hundreds of people across the country are telling the EPA its new rules for power-plant pollution either go too far or not far enough. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

EPA hears testimony on proposed carbon emissions rules

The atmosphere outside was festive, with music, free T-shirts and ice cream giveaways, but the mood inside the Environmental Protection Agency's first hearings on its proposed power plant regulations was anything but.

July 29, 2014
President Barack Obama and White House counselor John Podesta, left, walk across the ellipse in Washington as they head towards the Dept. of Interior, Wednesday, May 21, 2014. Obama and Podesta also walked back to the White House after a signing a proclamation regarding the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

White House: No choice but to act now on climate change

The Obama administration released a comprehensive new report Tuesday in an attempt to justify its controversial actions on climate change, and also will roll out new executive moves to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

July 29, 2014
U.S. President Ronald Reagan gestures as Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev looks on after their third session of talks at the Hofdi in Reykjavik, Oct. 12, 1986. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

Russia in violation of 1987 missile treaty, White House says

In what could lead to further deterioration of the U.S.-Russia relationship, the White House said Monday that Moscow stands in violation of a 1987 treaty prohibiting the possession, production or use of intermediate-range cruise missiles.

July 28, 2014
Islamist fighters battle near Tripoli International Airport. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Libya now nation at risk with weak U.S. influence; embassy closes as chaos grows

With violence spreading across Libya and the U.S. Embassy closing in Tripoli, Republican lawmakers over the weekend blasted the Obama administration for failing to stop yet another troubled Middle Eastern nation from descending into complete chaos, and even some Democrats conceded that America's influence in the world has waned considerably.

July 27, 2014
Dan Pfeiffer, senior adviser to President Obama, speaks at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor in Washington on July 25. (Michael Bonfigli/The Christian Science Monitor)

White House adviser on 2016: Rand Paul more viable than Ted Cruz

Sen. Ted Cruz "is deeply out of step" with the American people and would face an uphill battle for president in 2016, while Sen. Rand Paul and his libertarian message may present a challenge for Democrats, White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer told reporters Friday.

July 25, 2014