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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

From Jan. 22 through Feb. 4, students from the Army’s John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg, N.C. will be taking part in the latest “Robin Sage” exercise, the final test of their Special Forces Qualification Course training. (AP Photo/Chris Seward) ** FILE **

Push to erase Confederacy from U.S. military history expands dramatically

The push to sever all ties between the U.S. armed forces and the legacy of the Confederacy has reached new heights, with critics this week demanding that military facilities across the nation rename streets and dorms, take down plaques, and make other necessary changes to erase the Confederate legacy from the modern military.

May 27, 2021
People with Israeli flags attend a rally in support of Israel, in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, May 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber

Israel approves unilateral cease-fire in Gaza offensive

Israel and Hamas agreed on Thursday to a cease-fire, bringing to at least a temporary halt to nearly two weeks of brutal fighting that have claimed hundreds of lives, shaken the Middle East, and sparked a heated debate in the U.S. about how strongly Washington should back Israel and its military operations in the future.

May 20, 2021
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, May 19, 2021. (Sergei Ilyin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)  **FILE**

Russia in line to take control of Arctic Council

Russia is set to take control of the powerful Arctic Council, an eight-member body that wields tremendous influence over the icy region and could provide the Kremlin with a new platform to push its agenda amid rising tensions with the U.S.

May 19, 2021
In this Feb. 12, 2009, photo, the Pentagon is seen from Air Force One. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) ** FILE **

Senators say Pentagon must pass audit or return millions of dollars

Military services and Pentagon offices that can't complete a full, clean audit of their budgets should return millions of dollars to American taxpayers, a bipartisan group of senators said Wednesday as they introduced legislation that could transform Defense Department finances.

May 19, 2021
In this Nov. 3, 2009, file photo, Lt. Thomas Goodman, center, of the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division meets with villagers in Qatar Kala in the Pech Valley of Afghanistan's Kunar province with his interpreter Ayazudin Hilal, center left with hat. Hilil served as an interpreter alongside U.S. soldiers on hundreds of patrols and dozens of firefights in eastern Afghanistan, earning a glowing letter of recommendation from an American platoon commander and a medal of commendation. Still, Hilal was turned down when he applied for one of the scarce special visas that would allow him to relocate to the U.S with his family. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder, File)

Capitol Hill critics warn Biden faces another Vietnam

The U.S. military exit from Afghanistan is beginning to look "just like Vietnam," a key lawmaker warned Tuesday as questions grow about the Biden administration's short-term strategy to ensure U.S. civilian personnel and Afghan allies aren't slaughtered by the Taliban and the long-term prospect that the country's pro-Western government may collapse without international support.

May 18, 2021
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby puts his mask on following a media briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, Monday, May 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Pentagon drops indoor mask requirement

Fully vaccinated individuals no longer need to wear masks indoors at the Pentagon or other Defense Department facilities, military officials said Friday.

May 14, 2021
An Israeli artillery unit fires toward targets in Gaza Strip, at the Israeli Gaza border, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israeli-Palestinian fighting sparks bitter political battles

Israel wants the world to unite behind its war against Iran-backed Hamas, which it escalated Friday morning, but the fighting has sparked division, including in Washington, where shouting matches on Capitol Hill, charges of antisemitism and bitter foreign policy fights have broken out as lawmakers draw their own battle lines.

May 13, 2021
Israeli police patrol during clashes between Arabs, police and Jews, in the mixed town of Lod, central Israel, Wednesday, May 12, 2021. As rockets from Gaza streaked overhead, Arabs and Jews fought each other on the streets below. Rioters torched vehicles, a restaurant and a synagogue in one of the worst spasms of communal violence that Israel has seen in years. (AP Photo/Heidi Levine)

Israeli-Palestinian clash rattles Trump Abraham Accords, Biden agenda

Escalating Israeli-Palestinian violence is threatening to undermine progress made by the Trump administration's Abraham Accords and drive a new wedge between Israel and the Arab world, all while President Biden scrambles to address the crisis that has eclipsed his own foreign policy priorities.

May 12, 2021
An Israeli soldier stands guard next to an Iron Dome air defense system as smoke rises from an oil tank on fire after it was hit by a rocket fire from Gaza Strip, near the town of Ashkelon, Israel,, Wednesday, May 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israel’s vaunted Iron Dome stretched to limit by Hamas rocket barrage

Israel's state-of-the-art Iron Dome missile defense system is facing its toughest test to date amid rapid-fire rocket attacks from Hamas, with military analysts in Israel openly wondering whether the Palestinian militant group has found a strategy to partially pierce the shield.

May 12, 2021
Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, and Tajikistan's President Emomali Rakhmon, left, attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier after the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, May 9, 2021, marking the 76th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Joe Biden seeks Russia penalty to stop cyberattacks

Major cyberattacks with links to Russia have grown bolder even in the face of escalating U.S. economic sanctions, presenting a high-stakes dilemma for President Biden as he weighs how to respond to the devastating assault on the Colonial Pipeline and what tools America may have at its disposal to punch back.

May 11, 2021