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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

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
Security personnel inspect the site of a bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, March 15, 2021. A bomb targeting a minibus in Afghanistan's capital exploded Monday wounding at least 15 civilians, police said, amid a surge in attacks in Kabul. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Joe Biden says May 1 deadline to pull U.S. troops from Afghanistan is ‘tough’

President Biden on Wednesday offered perhaps the clearest signal to date that U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan past a tentative May 1 deadline and blamed his predecessor for crafting what he described as a shoddy deal with the Taliban that so far has failed to produce a path to a lasting political settlement.

March 17, 2021
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, left, elbow bumps with Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, center, and Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, front, watch after a joint news conference after their two plus two security talks at Iikura Guest House in Tokyo Tuesday, March 16, 2021. Defense and foreign ministers from the U.S. and Japan are meeting to discuss their concern over China's growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region as the Biden administration tries to reaffirm engagement with its key regional allies.(Kazuhiro Nogi/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. lines up Japan, South Korea ahead of China meeting in Alaska

The Biden administration this week is racing to line up key Asian allies ahead of a high-stakes meeting with top Chinese officials in Alaska on Thursday -- a meeting that analysts say will offer a key window into how the complex geopolitical showdown between Washington and Beijing will play out over the next four years.

March 16, 2021
In this Dec. 6, 2012, photo provided by the U.S. Department of Defense, soldiers assigned to 6th Engineer Battalion use snow shoes during Arctic Light Individual Training on the Bulldog Trail in sub-zero conditions at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. ALIT is the United States Army Alaska's Cold Weather Indoctrination program. It gives all soldiers, regardless of their job, the foundation to successfully work, train, and go to war in some of the harshest environments in the world. (AP Photo/U.S. Air Force, Justin Connaher) **FILE**

Army aims for ‘Arctic dominance’ over Russia

The U.S. Army will stand up a new headquarters in the Arctic, better prepare military units to carry out long-term missions in the icy region, and invest heavily to improve the quality of life for soldiers stationed in Alaska and beyond, the Pentagon said Tuesday in a sweeping new strategy that aims to recapture "Arctic dominance" from Russia.

March 16, 2021