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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

President Barack Obama laughs with Vice President Joe Biden during a ceremony in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017. Obama presented Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) ** FILE **

U.S., Iran will hold indirect talks to salvage nuclear deal

The U.S. and Iran said Friday they'll participate in indirect negotiations aimed at resurrecting an Obama-era deal that limited Tehran's nuclear weapons program, marking a major turning point for the Biden administration's diplomatic outreach to the Islamic republic.

April 2, 2021
Stephanie Vazquez doesn’t let her Afghanistan War injury stop her from fishing. She was presented with a car this week by the Freedom Alliance, an organization that helps wounded veterans. (Freedom Alliance)

Stephanie Vazquez, veteran wounded in Afghanistan, worries for women left behind

As part of a female engagement team in Afghanistan, Stephanie Vazquez, the medically retired Army sergeant and mother of two, was given a critical mission: to gather information from Afghan women, who were culturally barred from speaking directly with male soldiers but were routinely used as pawns by the enemy.

April 1, 2021
This undated file photo distributed by the North Korean government shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, at an undisclosed location in North Korea. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

Satellite images show new activity at key North Korean nuclear lab

Satellite images taken Tuesday show new activity at the Yongbyon Radiochemistry Laboratory, a key facility in North Korea's nuclear weapons program, fueling suspicion that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is seeking to put public pressure on President Biden and wants to force the U.S. to make diplomatic concessions.

March 31, 2021
In this photo released by Suez Canal Authority, the Ever Given, a Panama-flagged cargo ship, is pulled by one of the Suez Canal tugboats, in the Suez Canal, Egypt, Monday, March 29, 2021. Engineers on Monday "partially refloated " the colossal container ship that continues to block traffic through the Suez Canal, authorities said, without providing further details about when the vessel would be set free. (Suez Canal Authority via AP)

Suez Canal blockage allows China, Russia push for shipping business

The Suez Canal reopened for business Monday after salvage crews freed a massive container ship that spent the past week blocking the crucial waterway, while stakeholders around the world -- including China, Russia and even American political advocacy groups -- seized on the incident to push their own agendas.

March 29, 2021
U.S. Navy F-35 jets fly over Levi's Stadium during the national anthem before an NFL divisional playoff football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Minnesota Vikings, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot) ** FILE **

F-35 threatened by Pentagon budget crunch

The Pentagon's vaunted F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, a key cog in the U.S. military's 21st-century battle plan, is facing brutal blowback from all corners amid seemingly never-ending production delays and an eye-popping price tag of $1.7 trillion and climbing.

March 28, 2021
F-15A/B/C/D/E Eagle and F-15E Strike Eagle Primary function: F-15A/B/C/D/E — single-seat air superiority fighter. F-15E — air-to-ground attack aircraft. Dimensions: Wingspan 42 ft. 8 in.; length 63 ft. 8 in.; height 18 ft. 5 in. Speed: 1,875 mph. Strike Eagle Mach 2.5-plus. Range: 3,450 miles unrefueled. Strike Eagle 2,400 miles unrefueled. Armament: (All models) one internally mounted M-61A1 20 mm cannon with 940 rounds of ammunition and any combination of AIM-9L/M/X Sidewinder and four AIM- 7F/M Sparrow air-to-air missiles, or eight AIM-120 AMRAAMs air-to-air missiles, carried externally. Strike Eagle — Mk-82/82, M129, CBU-87/89/97, GBU- 10/12/15/24/27/31/38/39, AGM-65, AGM-130/154, nuclear weapons. Crew: F-15A/C, one; F-15B/D/E, two; Strike Eagle, two. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Aaron Allmon)

U.S. offensive batters ISIS with 312 airstrikes

The U.S. military and its Iraqi partners this month launched a major offensive against the remnants of the Islamic State in Iraq, unleashing 312 airstrikes and a ground assault that killed at least 27 terrorists.

March 24, 2021
A photo showing North Korea's missile launch is displayed at the Unification Observation Post in Paju, near the border with North Korea, South Korea, Wednesday, March 24, 2021. North Korea fired short-range missiles this past weekend, just days after the sister of Kim Jong Un threatened the United States and South Korea for holding joint military exercises. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Joe Biden dismisses North Korean missile tests

North Korea's short-range missile tests last weekend fall within the bounds of "normal military activity" and will not halt U.S. efforts to restart diplomatic engagement with Pyongyang, Biden administration officials said Tuesday evening.

March 23, 2021
Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan applauds as he listens to Russia's President Vladimir Putin during a ceremony as they have remotely inaugurated the construction of a third nuclear reactor of Akkuyu power plant in Mersin province on the Mediterranean coast, in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, March 10, 2021. Erdogan called it a "symbol of Turkish-Russian cooperation." (Turkish Presidency via AP, Pool)

Turkey joins Russia in condemning Biden’s ‘killer’ comment

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday sided with Russia in its heated diplomatic dispute with the U.S., saying that President Biden's recent claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a killer is "not fitting" of a world leader.

March 19, 2021
Russian President Vladimir Putin leads a cabinet meeting via video conference in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, March 10, 2021. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Joe Biden ‘killer’ remark riles Vladimir Putin, Russia, deepens rift

The already chilly U.S.-Russia relationship descended into a rhetorical and diplomatic deep freeze Thursday, with Russian President Vladimir Putin bristling at President Biden's claim that he is a "killer" and invoking the atomic bombings of Japan, slavery and the murder of Native Americans in a stunning broadside against the White House and America as a whole.

March 18, 2021