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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

In this Jan. 25, 2020, file photo a Boeing 777X airplane takes off on its first flight with the Olympic Mountains in the background at Paine Field in Everett, Wash. Boeing Co. reports financial results on Wednesday, Jan. 29. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File) **FILE**

Defense industry braces for unknown fallout from virus

The vaunted U.S. military-industrial machine is venturing into the unknown as the coronavirus continues its spread across the country, sector leaders said Wednesday, with the global pandemic threatening to slow down innovation and disrupt key supply chains.

March 18, 2020
Defense Secretary Mark Esper said his department is prepared to make available respiratory masks and military ventilators to treat patients. (Associated Press)

Pentagon willing but wary over role in U.S. coronavirus fight

President Trump is facing increased pressure to enlist the military in America's battle against the coronavirus, but Pentagon officials are warning against the idea that the armed forces can provide the ultimate answer and law scholars say complex legal questions could await the commander in chief if he pursues such a strategy to its fullest.

March 17, 2020
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during the agreement signing between Taliban and U.S. officials in Doha, Qatar, Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020. The United States is poised to sign a peace agreement with Taliban militants on Saturday aimed at bringing an end to 18 years of bloodshed in Afghanistan and allowing U.S. troops to return home from America's longest war. (AP Photo/Hussein Sayed)

U.S., Taliban sign deal that calls for troops to exit Afghanistan within 14 months

The U.S. on Saturday signed a landmark peace agreement with its foe of nearly two decades, the Taliban, as the Trump administration officially embarked down a path that could see all American troops exit Afghanistan within 14 months and represent the beginning of the end for the longest war in U.S. history.

February 29, 2020
In this Feb. 17, 2020, file photo, Democratic presidential candidate and former South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg speaks at The Union Event Center in Salt Lake City. Democratic presidential candidates like to boast about their ability to lure away disaffected Republican voters. If there's a place to test their skills, it's Utah. The deep red state is a bastion of conservative resistance to President Donald Trump. (Spenser Heaps/The Deseret News via AP, File)

Buttigieg ‘extremely vulnerable’ to attack for relying on Navy service

A seven-month deployment in Afghanistan shrouded in secrecy is a key piece of Pete Buttigieg's pitch to voters in the 2020 presidential race, with the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor arguing that his status as a veteran and his time in a war zone give him foreign policy gravitas and first-hand military experience none of his Democratic primary rivals can claim.

February 29, 2020
OSLO, Norway (June 25, 2018) — Kenneth J. Braithwaite, U.S. ambassador to Norway, boards the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge (DDG 96) during a scheduled port visit to Oslo, Norway, June 25, 2018. Bainbridge, homeported at Naval Station Norfolk, is conducting naval operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe and Africa. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Theron J. Godbold/Released)

Kenneth Braithwaite, Navy secretary nominee, Trump campaign support behind delay, backers say

President Trump's Navy secretary pick seems to be slowly sinking. The president tapped U.S. Ambassador to Norway Kenneth Braithwaite, a retired admiral and former naval aviator, for the post three months ago, but key lawmakers on Capitol Hill told The Washington Times that they have yet to hold customary one-on-one meetings with the nominee and confirmed that the White House hasn't sent the formal paperwork to move the nomination forward.

February 26, 2020
Democratic presidential candidate former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, poses for a photo after a Democratic presidential primary debate at the Gaillard Center, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020, in Charleston, S.C., co-hosted by CBS News and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Pete Buttigieg military service pitch invites ‘Swift Boat’ sequel

A seven-month deployment in Afghanistan shrouded in secrecy is a key piece of Pete Buttigieg's pitch to voters in the 2020 presidential race, with the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor arguing that his status as a veteran and his time in a war zone give him foreign policy gravitas and first-hand military experience none of his Democratic primary rivals can claim.

February 26, 2020
In this Dec. 20, 2019, file photo Defense Secretary Mark Esper speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington. The Pentagon is adopting new ethical principles as it prepares to accelerate its use of artificial intelligence technology on the battlefield. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) **FILE**

Pentagon adopts new ethical principles for using artificial intelligence in war

The Pentagon on Monday rolled out a sweeping set of ethical guidelines to govern the use of artificial intelligence on the battlefield, marking a major step forward in the military's campaign to establish firm controls over 21st-century technology and ensure that humans retain control over machines.

February 24, 2020
Under Secretary of Defense for Policy John Rood speaks during a news conference on the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review, at the Pentagon, Friday, Feb. 2, 2018. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) ** FILE **

John Rood, top Pentagon official, to resign

The Pentagon's top policy official was pushed out of his job Wednesday at the direct request of President Trump, marking the latest senior defense official to leave his post in the last six months amid tensions over the extent of White House influence in military affairs.

February 19, 2020