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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-elect Joe Biden pauses as he speaks during a virtual meeting with the United States Conference of Mayors at The Queen theater Monday, Nov. 23, 2020, in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Presidential transition begins at the Pentagon

Pentagon officials said late Monday evening that they are in contact with presumptive President-elect Joseph R. Biden's team and have started to lay the groundwork for a January transition.

November 24, 2020
Members of North Korea's military divisions attend a meeting to pay respect to late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang, North Korea, Friday, Nov. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin)

‘Rally of Hope’ draws million attendees seeking Korean peace

Divisions remain between North and South Korea 70 years after war broke out, but love, compassion and a mutual respect for friends and foes alike can heal old wounds and finally restore unity on the Korean Peninsula, current and former heads of state and prominent U.S. political figures said Saturday at a major international rally.

November 22, 2020
The Universal Peace Federation hosted a worldwide virtual 'Rally of Hope.' (screenshot)

‘Rally of Hope’ marks 70 years since Korean War, offers optimism on reunification

Divisions remain between North and South Korea 70 years after war broke out, but love, compassion and a mutual respect for friends and foes alike can heal old wounds and finally restore unity on the Korean peninsula, current and former heads of state and prominent U.S. political figures said Saturday at a major international rally.

November 21, 2020
FILE - In this May 15, 2020 file photo, Chief of Space Operations at United States Space Force Gen. John Raymond, left, and Chief Master Sgt. Roger Towberman, right, hold the U.S. Space Force flag as President Donald Trump walks past it, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. On Sept. 1, 2020, Space Force, the first new U.S. military service since the creation of the Air Force in 1947 swore in some 20 members stationed at the Al-Udeid Air Base, Qatar in its first foreign deployment. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Joe Biden pressured to scrap Space Force

The left is already gunning for one of President Trump's proudest and highest-profile achievements by lobbying presumed President-elect Joseph R. Biden to dismantle the Pentagon's new Space Force and roll back plans for U.S. military domination of the final frontier.

November 18, 2020
A supporter of Iran backed militia holds a poster of Iraq's Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, while others burning the building of Dijala local TV channel accusing it of broadcasting songs and dance on the holy Shiite day of Ashura in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Aug. 31, 2020. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

Abu Muhammea al-Masri hit reveals Iran-al Qaeda links

The reported assassination of a top al Qaeda leader on the streets of Tehran has raised fresh questions about the murky relationship between Iran and the radical Sunni terror group, as well as about the depths of clandestine U.S. and Israeli operations aimed at destroying that relationship.

November 17, 2020
In this June 10, 2017, photo provided by Operation Resolute Support, U.S. soldiers with Task Force Iron maneuver an M-777 howitzer, so it can be towed into position at Bost Airfield, Afghanistan. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Pentagon brushes aside criticism, moves ahead with troop drawdowns in Afghanistan, Iraq

The Pentagon on Tuesday forged ahead with President Trump's plan to dramatically cut America's military presence in both Afghanistan and Iraq, brushing aside objections from lawmakers at home and top officials abroad while signaling the U.S. accepts that after nearly two decades of war it cannot fully eradicate Islamist terror groups from the region.

November 17, 2020
This Nov. 29, 2017, file image provided by the North Korean government shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, third from left, and what the North Korean government calls the Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile, in North Korea. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

U.S. Navy shoots down ICBM in ‘defense of Hawaii’ test

The U.S. military early Tuesday morning shot down an intercontinental ballistic missile over the Pacific Ocean in what officials called a "defense of Hawaii scenario," demonstrating a new capability to counter potential attacks by North Korea, China or other actors in the increasingly tense Pacific theater.

November 17, 2020
In this photo taken with a drone, smoke rises from burning houses as people leave the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020. The territory is to be turned over to Azerbaijan on Sunday as part of territorial concessions in an agreement to end six weeks of intense fighting with Armenian forces. Hundreds of thousands of Azeris were displaced by the war that ended in 1994. It is unclear when any civilians might try to settle in Karvachar — which will now be known by its Azeri name Kalbajar — or elsewhere. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)

Azerbaijan uses of drones, AI to beat back Armenia

With the strategic importance of drones and the reaffirmation of Russia's grip over its own backyard, the bloody faceoff between Armenia and Azerbaijan has again proved the immense value of technology in modern-day warfare and underscored the geopolitical undertones that represent a given in virtually all 21st-century battles.

November 15, 2020
Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller speaks during a meeting with Lithuanian Minister of National Defence Raimundas Karoblis at the Pentagon, Friday, Nov. 13, 2020. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Christopher Miller, Pentagon chief, signals end to Middle East wars

The U.S. must end the era of "perpetual war" and bring its troops back home, Acting Defense Secretary Christopher C. Miller wrote in a weekend message to the Pentagon, laying the groundwork for major withdrawals from Afghanistan and elsewhere during the final weeks of the Trump administration.

November 15, 2020
Afghan security police stand guard at the entrance gate of Kabul University after a deadly attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. The brazen attack by gunmen who stormed the university has left many dead and wounded in the Afghan capital. The assault sparked an hours-long gun battle. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Joe Biden faces delicate dilemma in Afghanistan War handoff

Presumptive President-elect Joe Biden is facing pressure from all sides in the war in Afghanistan, with Taliban leaders urging him to continue a rapid drawdown of American troops while the U.S.-backed government in Kabul is pleading for a cautious approach and a rock-solid commitment to counterterrorism.

November 10, 2020
In this June 1, 2020, file photo, President Donald Trump departs the White House to visit outside St. John's Episcopal Church, in Washington. Part of the church was set on fire during protests on Sunday night. Walking behind Trump from left are, Attorney General William Barr, Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Milley says his presence “created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics.” He called it “a mistake” that he has learned from. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Mark Esper fired as defense secretary

President Trump unceremoniously fired Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper via Twitter on Thursday, sparking yet another round of upheaval at the Pentagon and injecting even more drama into an already tense, uncertain post-election period for the administration and the military.

November 9, 2020
A man wearing a face mask as a precaution against the coronavirus reads the headlines about the U.S. presidential elections at a newspapers stand in Paris, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. The world is watching as millions of Americans cast their ballots for the next president on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Trump-Biden election cliffhanger robs global mandate from victor

In a testament to America's staying power as the leading global superpower, the fight for the White House contest is being greeted with interest and enthusiasm befitting a heavyweight "pay-per-view" fight -- with world leaders and citizens alike gobbling up each new twist.

November 4, 2020
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, leads other Chinese leaders attending the fifth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Beijing, China on Oct. 29, 2020. China's leaders are vowing to make their country a self-reliant "technology power" after a meeting to draft a development blueprint for the state-dominated economy over the next five years. (Wang Ye/Xinhua via AP)

Presidential election winner faces complex geopolitical puzzle

North Korea and its nuclear ambitions were the greatest threat to world stability and must be atop the new commander in chief's priority list, President Trump recalls being told during a closed-door White House transition meeting with then-President Barack Obama in late 2016.

November 2, 2020
Afghan police arrive at the site of an attack at Kabul University in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Nov. 2, 2020. Gunfire erupted at the university in the Afghan capital early Monday and police have surrounded the sprawling campus, authorities said. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Gunmen kill 19 at Kabul University, Taliban denies involvement

Islamic State gunmen launched a brazen attack on Kabul University on Monday, killing at least 22 students and wounding more than 20 others in what Afghan government officials described as a "despicable act of terror" at a time when the Trump administration is hoping to cut a peace deal that will end the U.S. combat mission there.

November 2, 2020