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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

Colonial Pipeline storage tanks are seen in Woodbridge, N.J., Monday, May 10, 2021. Gasoline futures are ticking higher following a cyberextortion attempt on the Colonial Pipeline, a vital U.S. pipeline that carries fuel from the Gulf Coast to the Northeast. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Colonial Pipeline, hit by cyberattack, may be back up and running by end of week

The Biden administration on Monday confronted another major cyberattack with apparent links to Russia while the U.S. energy industry slowly got back on its feet after a crippling assault on the Colonial Pipeline underscored deep vulnerabilities in critical American infrastructure that security experts say must be fixed.

May 10, 2021
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark A. Milley has expressed his support for changing how the military conducts investigations of sexual assault. (ASSOCIATED PRESS) **FILE**

Momentum builds to change military rules on harassment in the ranks

The polarizing push to pull sexual assault cases from the chain of command -- an idea that now appears inevitable amid openness from top Pentagon commanders and support from even some of the most outspoken pro-military conservatives on Capitol Hill -- would represent a fundamental change to one of the core tenets of U.S. military practice.

May 8, 2021
The HMS Queen Elizabeth left Portsmouth Naval Base on Saturday for exercises off Scotland before a 28-week trip through the Pacific that will take the Royal Navy to more than 40 countries. (Associated Press)

Boris Johnson South China Sea carrier deployment to project Britain power

Post-Brexit Britain is thrusting itself into 21st-century great power competition with the deployment of a massive carrier strike group through Asia and the bitterly contested South China Sea this month, marking the Royal Navy's most ambitious mission since the Falklands War of the early 1980s.

May 4, 2021
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan listens during a meeting with President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga in the State Dining Room of the White House, Friday, April 16, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) ** FILE **

White House denies Iran’s sanctions, prisoner deal claims

Biden administration officials on Sunday morning denied reports from Iranian state-run media that the U.S. and Britain have agreed to free up $7 billion in frozen Iranian funds in exchange for the release of American prisoners held in the Islamic republic.

May 2, 2021
In this Jan. 15, 2018, photo, U.S. Marines watch during the change of command ceremony at Task Force Southwest military field in Shorab military camp of Helmand province, Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini) **FILE**

U.S. base in Afghanistan hit by rocket fire as troops begin withdrawal

In an ominous kickoff to the mission to leave, U.S. forces returned fire over the weekend after rockets hit a key air base in Kandahar, Afghanistan, while America's top general on Sunday warned of "bad possible outcomes" in the country after all U.S. and NATO troops complete their withdrawal.

May 2, 2021
President Joe Biden addresses a joint session of Congress Wednesday, April 28, 2021, in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool via AP)

Joe Biden defends plan to pull troops from Afghanistan

President Biden on Wednesday night defended his controversial decision to withdraw all U.S. forces from Afghanistan by September 11, arguing that America has accomplished its goals in the 20-year "forever war."

April 28, 2021
Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry listens as President Joe Biden speaks to the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate, from the East Room of the White House, Thursday, April 22, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

John Kerry told Iranians about secret Israeli operations in Syria: Report

Former Secretary of State John Kerry kept Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif informed about secret Israeli military actions in Syria, the Iranian diplomat said in recently leaked audio, casting new light on communication between the two men after Mr. Kerry returned to life as a private citizen in 2017.

April 26, 2021
In this Aug. 5, 2019, file photo, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks at a press conference in Tehran, Iran. A recording of Iran's foreign minister offering a blunt appraisal of diplomacy and the limits of power within the Islamic Republic has leaked out publicly, providing a rare look inside the country's theocracy. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)

Leaked recording of Iran’s top diplomat offers blunt talk

President Biden's effort to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran may be in jeopardy after a leaked tape exposed deep divisions between military leaders and diplomats inside Iran, with the credibility of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif now in doubt at a crucial moment in negotiations.

April 26, 2021