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Ben Wolfgang

Ben Wolfgang

bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com

Ben Wolfgang is a National Security Correspondent for The Washington Times. His reporting is regularly featured in the daily Threat Status newsletter.
Previously, he covered energy and the environment, Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2016, and also spent two years as a White House correspondent during the Obama administration.
Before coming to The Times in 2011, Ben worked as political reporter at The Republican-Herald in Pottsville, Pa.
He can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Ben Wolfgang

White House counselor John Podesta speaks during a breakfast in Washington hosted by the Christian Science Monitor on June 6. (Michael Bonfigli/The Christian Science Monitor)

Top adviser to Obama says carbon rules are a political winner

A top adviser to President Obama said Friday that the administration's highly controversial restrictions on carbon emissions from power plants not only will improve public health and mitigate the effects of climate change but also carry political benefits for supporters of the proposal.

June 6, 2014
U.S. President Barack Obama, right and French President Francois Hollande place a wreath, at the Normandy American Cemetery, at Omaha Beach as they participate in the 70th anniversary of D-Day in Colleville sur Mer in Normandy, France, Friday, June 6, 2014. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

‘Freedom’s victory’ — Obama commemorates 70th anniversary of D-Day

Telling World War II veterans who stormed the beaches of Normandy 70 years ago that they exemplified the "powerful manifestation of America's commitment to human freedom," President Obama on Friday commemorated the D-Day invasion and paid a moving tribute to those who lost their lives in the fight to liberate Europe.

June 6, 2014
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, right, stands with a Taliban fighter in eastern Afghanistan. The Taliban on Wednesday, June 4, 2014, released a video showing the handover of Bergdahl to U.S. forces in eastern Afghanistan, touting the swap of the American soldier for five Taliban detainees from Guantanamo as a significant achievement for the insurgents. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Lawmakers say fear for Bergdahl’s life is no excuse for Obama’s secrecy

Obama administration officials said Thursday that they feared the Islamic militants holding Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl would kill him if word of their deal to exchange him for five Taliban fighters leaked — offering the latest justification in the face of growing political controversy over why President Obama sidestepped Congress to make the trade Saturday.

June 5, 2014
With President Obama leading the way, the G-7 Thursday committed to adopting a "global agreement" on climate change in the next year. Earlier this week, the EPA released new regulations designed to cut carbon emission by 30 percent by 2030. (Associated Press)

G-7 commits to adopting ‘global’ climate change agreement

President Obama on Thursday doubled down on his quest to save the world from climate change, urging every nation to "do its share" to reduce carbon emissions and follow the highly controversial path the White House is forging here in the U.S.

June 5, 2014

Biden, McCain to head U.S. team at Ukraine inauguration

Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona and other U.S. officials will travel to Kiev on Saturday to attend the inauguration of Ukrainian President-elect Petro Poroshenko, the White House announced Thursday.

June 5, 2014
President Barack Obama British Prime Minister David Cameron speak during a news conference at the G7 summit in Brussels, Belgium, Thursday, June 5, 2014. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Obama opens door for ‘businesslike’ meeting with Putin

Saying he's always had a "businesslike" relationship with Vladimir Putin, President Obama on Thursday opened the door to meet with the Russian leader when the two men visit Normandy to mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landing.

June 5, 2014
President Barack Obama listens as British Prime Minister David Cameron speaks during a news conference at the G7 summit in Brussels, Belgium, Thursday, June 5, 2014. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Obama stays out of dispute with French bank

President Obama said Thursday that he's staying out of a dispute with France's largest bank as the Justice Department mulls huge fines against the institution, stating he will rely on the media to keep him informed of new developments.

June 5, 2014
FILE - In this Sept. 5, 2013 file photo, President Barack Obama shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during arrivals for the G-20 summit at the Konstantin Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013. Congress is stepping up pressure on the White House to confront Russia over allegations that it is cheating on a key nuclear arms treaty, a faceoff that could further strain U.S.-Moscow relations and dampen President Barack Obama's hopes to add deeper cuts in nuclear arsenals to his legacy. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Still no plans for Obama-Putin meeting this week, White House says

The leaders of Britain, France and Germany all plan to meet with President Vladimir Putin later this week at events marking the 70th anniversary of the Normandy landing, but the White House says President Obama has no plans to talk with the Russian leader.

June 4, 2014
Bergdahl

Obama uses gray area for Bowe Bergdahl decision

For a commander in chief who's always been somewhat ill at ease with the ambiguities of the war on terror, this weekend's "prisoner swap" with the Taliban was the latest instance of President Obama trying to figure out when to treat it like a traditional war, and when to deem it a 21st-century conflict that breaks many of the rules of regular warfare.

June 3, 2014
**FILE** Steam rises from the stacks of Basin Electric's Laramie River Station coal-fired power plant near Wheatland, Wyo., on Feb. 11, 2014. (Associated Press/The Casper Star-Tribune, Alan Rogers)

EPA tells states: Cut carbon pollution by 30 percent over next 15 years

The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday proposed unprecedented regulations to cut carbon pollution from power plants by 30 percent over the next 15 years, saddling states with the responsibility of figuring out how to meet President Obama's ambitious and highly controversial climate change goals.

June 2, 2014
FILE - In this July 1, 2013, file photo smoke rises from the Colstrip Steam Electric Station, a coal burning power plant in in Colstrip, Mont. The Obama administration on Monday, June 2, 2014, will roll out a plan to cut earth-warming pollution from power plants by 30 percent by 2030, setting in motion one of the most significant actions to address global warming in U.S. history. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)

EPA eyeing 30 percent emissions cut for power plants

Having failed to ram a key piece of his climate agenda through Congress in 2010, President Obama on Monday will endorse far-reaching new restrictions on carbon pollution widely expected to push states to embrace cap-and-trade-style systems.

June 1, 2014