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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 meets with veterans and Gold Star Mothers to discuss the Iran Nuclear deal, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Obama set to push on with climate agenda

Despite bitter opposition in Congress, a series of legal setbacks and data showing its environmental regulations will drive up electricity rates, the Obama administration this week is moving full-speed ahead with its climate change agenda, prodding U.S. cities into new policies to reduce carbon emissions.

September 15, 2015
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on July 19, 2015. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Benjamin Netanyahu to visit White House in November

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the chief critic of President Obama's nuclear deal with Iran, will visit the White House in November, administration officials said Friday.

September 11, 2015
President Barack Obama delivers the commencement address at Lake Area Technical Institute in Watertown, S.D., on May 8, 2015. Obama visited South Dakota to promote his proposal to offer two years for free community college to qualified students. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Obama won’t stay at Chinese-owned hotel in New York, White House confirms

President Obama will break with tradition and will not stay at the famous Waldorf-Astoria Hotel when the White House delegation visits New York City later this year for the annual United Nations General Assembly meeting, administration officials said Friday, fueling speculation that concerns over Chinese spying drove the change.

September 11, 2015
President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, and others, stand on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Friday, Sept. 11, 2015, as a bugler plays "Taps" during a ceremony to observe the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorists attacks. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Obamas mark 9/11 with moment of silence

Exactly 14 years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, began, President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama held a moment of silence Friday to honor those who died that day.

September 11, 2015
President Obama is making the case that Republican opponents of the Iran nuclear deal — which is designed to limit Tehran's ability to acquire a nuclear weapon in exchange for relief from some economic sanctions — essentially want war with Iran. He argues American casualties are all but certain if the deal is not implemented. (Associated Press)

Obama mounts all-out push to sell Iran nuclear deal to Jews, skeptical public

President Obama found enough support in Congress to ensure survival of his nuclear deal with Iran, but he still has a steep hill to climb in convincing a skeptical American public -- and Jewish voters in particular -- that the agreement is in the best interests of both the U.S. and Israel.

September 10, 2015
President Obama once again cast higher education as key to economic growth during a speech in Warren, Michigan, on Wednesday. (Associated Press)

Obama renews push for free higher education

President Obama on Wednesday renewed his push for two years of free community college for all Americans, saying the issue should be one that can bring Republicans and Democrats together at a time when the two sides are locked in a bitter budget showdown.

September 9, 2015
Refugees walk along the railway tracks that connect Horgos and Szeged near the Hungary-Serbia border Tuesday. President Obama says the U.S. must do more to help the issue of Syrian refugees, but both Democrats and Republicans say he has been slow to act. (Associated Press)

Obama’s Syria policy led directly to refugee crisis, Republican critics charge

The White House acknowledged Tuesday that the U.S., along with other nations across the Middle East and Europe, must do more to alleviate the worsening Syrian refugee crisis -- but that admission highlights how the administration often has seemed several steps behind as Syria sunk into chaos, a fact Republican critics, fellow Democrats and international leaders have pointed to in recent days and weeks.

September 8, 2015
Visiting the homes of top newspaper executives seems rare for President Obama, though he has enjoyed strong support — financially and otherwise — from high-profile figures in the media world. (Associated Press)

Obama visits with top newspaper executives raise questions about fairness of news media

Nearly seven years into his tenure, President Obama remains on friendly terms with some powerful figures in the media. In recent weeks, the president has gotten cozy with top executives at major U.S. newspapers, headlining a Democratic Party fundraiser at the home of Las Vegas Sun owner Brian Greenspun and dining at the Anchorage home of Alaska Dispatch News publisher Alice Rogoff during a three-day trek across the state last week.

September 7, 2015
Regarding the decision on whether or not to run for president, Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. said the "most relevant factor in my decision is whether my family and I have the emotional energy to run." (Associated Press)

Joe Biden not fazed by polls, doubters

Political analysts say he has a chance and polls show an opening for him, but Vice President Joseph R. Biden made clear last week that his decision to enter or skip the 2016 Democratic presidential primary is an emotional and moral one, and not dependent on his fundraising prowess or whether he can assemble a winning campaign.

September 6, 2015
Vice President Joe Biden speaks at Generation Progress's 10th Annual Make Progress National Summit in Washington in this July 16, 2015, file photo. (AP Photo/Molly Riley, File)

Joe Biden on 2016 bid: Not sure I have ‘emotional energy to run’

Joseph R. Biden said Thursday night he would be able to raise money, assemble a campaign staff and take other necessary steps to become a formidable candidate in the 2016 presidential race -- but the vice president may lack the "emotional energy" to enter the contest.

September 3, 2015
Secretary of State John Kerry delivers a speech in support of the Iran nuclear deal at the National Constitution Center, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

White House celebrates 34th Senate vote in favor of Iran deal

The White House on Wednesday celebrated the news that 34 senators now have publicly said they'll back President Obama's nuclear deal with Iran, a development that virtually ensures that the agreement will survive in Congress.

September 2, 2015