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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

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a Security Council meeting via video conference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, Friday, Dec. 18, 2020. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Putin congratulates Russia’s intel service after U.S. hit with massive cyberattack

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday publicly commended his country's SVR foreign intelligence service for its work protecting Moscow's interests. Many American officials and security experts believe the same Russian spy agency is responsible for a massive cyberattack on the U.S., the full extent of which is still being determined.

December 20, 2020
In this May 15, 2020, file photo, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley speaks during the presentation of the Space Force Flag in the Oval Office of the White House with President Donald Trump, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)  **FILE**

Mark Milley navigates minefield of ‘Trumpian politics’

Military insiders say Gen. Mark A. Milley has routinely demonstrated the savvy and instincts needed to navigate issues ranging from a contentious election cycle that threatened to ensnare the armed forces to private disagreements between the Pentagon and White House.

December 17, 2020
President-elect Joseph R. Biden has signaled that he intends to use the federal government, including the military, to further his ambitious climate agenda. (Associated Press photograph)

Joe Biden to thrust climate change to Pentagon forefront

Climate change soon will be thrust back into the spotlight at the Pentagon, with the incoming Biden administration set to frame the issue as an immediate threat to national security, a destabilizing force around the world, and a danger to U.S. military installations at home and abroad.

December 16, 2020
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting of the Council for Civil Society and Human Rights via a video conference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Vladimir Putin congratulates Joe Biden on victory

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday congratulated President-elect Joseph R. Biden on his White House victory, becoming one of the last major world leaders to formally recognize the looming transfer of power in the U.S.

December 15, 2020
U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Damian T. Donahoe, deputy commanding general, Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa, center, talks with service members during a battlefield circulation Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020, in Somalia. No country has been involved in Somalia's future as much as the United States but now the Trump administration is thinking of withdrawing the several hundred U.S. military troops from the nation at what some experts call the worst possible time. (Senior Airman Kristin Savage/Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa via AP)

Donald Trump orders ‘majority’ of U.S. troops out of Somalia

President Trump on Friday ordered that a "majority" of the 700 U.S. troops stationed in Somalia be relocated by early next year, Pentagon officials said, signaling a shift in how the U.S. wages war against the al-Shabab terror network and accelerating a trend of American military reconfiguration around the world.

December 4, 2020
In this Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020, image taken from a video provided by Defense.gov, acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller speaks at the Pentagon in Washington. (Defense.gov via AP) ** FILE **

Christopher Miller, acting Defense Secretary, visit spurs talk that Somalia pullout is in the works

A surprise trip by acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller to Somalia over the Thanksgiving weekend is fueling speculation that President Trump may soon pull the U.S. out of an "endless war" in the Horn of Africa -- but there are growing fears that a hasty American exit could embolden the Islamic extremist group al-Shabab and destabilize the entire country at a delicate political moment.

November 30, 2020
Tribesmen loyal to Houthi rebels hold their weapons as they ride in a vehicle during a gathering against the agreement to establish diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, in Sanaa, Yemen.  (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File)

Trump eyes terrorist label for Iran-backed Yemen rebels

The Trump administration appears on the verge of officially labeling the Iran-backed Yemeni rebel movement as a terrorist organization, a move that could bring major aftershocks for what is already one of the world's worst humanitarian and security disasters.

November 24, 2020
Then-U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis talks to the media in presence of Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev following their meeting at the government building in Skopje, Macedonia, Monday, Sept. 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski) ** FILE **

James Mattis calls for end to Trump’s ‘America first’ approach

Four years of President Trump's "America first" approach to foreign policy has damaged the country's standing in the world and eroded key partnerships that enhance U.S. national security, former Defense Secretary James Mattis said in a blistering op-ed Monday.

November 24, 2020