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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-elect Joseph R. Biden has signaled that he intends to use the federal government, including the military, to further his ambitious climate agenda. (Associated Press photograph)

Joe Biden to thrust climate change to Pentagon forefront

Climate change soon will be thrust back into the spotlight at the Pentagon, with the incoming Biden administration set to frame the issue as an immediate threat to national security, a destabilizing force around the world, and a danger to U.S. military installations at home and abroad.

December 16, 2020
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting of the Council for Civil Society and Human Rights via a video conference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Vladimir Putin congratulates Joe Biden on victory

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday congratulated President-elect Joseph R. Biden on his White House victory, becoming one of the last major world leaders to formally recognize the looming transfer of power in the U.S.

December 15, 2020
U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Damian T. Donahoe, deputy commanding general, Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa, center, talks with service members during a battlefield circulation Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020, in Somalia. No country has been involved in Somalia's future as much as the United States but now the Trump administration is thinking of withdrawing the several hundred U.S. military troops from the nation at what some experts call the worst possible time. (Senior Airman Kristin Savage/Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa via AP)

Donald Trump orders ‘majority’ of U.S. troops out of Somalia

President Trump on Friday ordered that a "majority" of the 700 U.S. troops stationed in Somalia be relocated by early next year, Pentagon officials said, signaling a shift in how the U.S. wages war against the al-Shabab terror network and accelerating a trend of American military reconfiguration around the world.

December 4, 2020
In this Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020, image taken from a video provided by Defense.gov, acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller speaks at the Pentagon in Washington. (Defense.gov via AP) ** FILE **

Christopher Miller, acting Defense Secretary, visit spurs talk that Somalia pullout is in the works

A surprise trip by acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller to Somalia over the Thanksgiving weekend is fueling speculation that President Trump may soon pull the U.S. out of an "endless war" in the Horn of Africa -- but there are growing fears that a hasty American exit could embolden the Islamic extremist group al-Shabab and destabilize the entire country at a delicate political moment.

November 30, 2020
Tribesmen loyal to Houthi rebels hold their weapons as they ride in a vehicle during a gathering against the agreement to establish diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, in Sanaa, Yemen. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File)

Trump eyes terrorist label for Iran-backed Yemen rebels

The Trump administration appears on the verge of officially labeling the Iran-backed Yemeni rebel movement as a terrorist organization, a move that could bring major aftershocks for what is already one of the world's worst humanitarian and security disasters.

November 24, 2020
Then-U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis talks to the media in presence of Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev following their meeting at the government building in Skopje, Macedonia, Monday, Sept. 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski) ** FILE **

James Mattis calls for end to Trump’s ‘America first’ approach

Four years of President Trump's "America first" approach to foreign policy has damaged the country's standing in the world and eroded key partnerships that enhance U.S. national security, former Defense Secretary James Mattis said in a blistering op-ed Monday.

November 24, 2020
President-elect Joe Biden pauses as he speaks during a virtual meeting with the United States Conference of Mayors at The Queen theater Monday, Nov. 23, 2020, in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Presidential transition begins at the Pentagon

Pentagon officials said late Monday evening that they are in contact with presumptive President-elect Joseph R. Biden's team and have started to lay the groundwork for a January transition.

November 24, 2020
Members of North Korea's military divisions attend a meeting to pay respect to late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang, North Korea, Friday, Nov. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin)

‘Rally of Hope’ draws million attendees seeking Korean peace

Divisions remain between North and South Korea 70 years after war broke out, but love, compassion and a mutual respect for friends and foes alike can heal old wounds and finally restore unity on the Korean Peninsula, current and former heads of state and prominent U.S. political figures said Saturday at a major international rally.

November 22, 2020
The Universal Peace Federation hosted a worldwide virtual 'Rally of Hope.' (screenshot)

‘Rally of Hope’ marks 70 years since Korean War, offers optimism on reunification

Divisions remain between North and South Korea 70 years after war broke out, but love, compassion and a mutual respect for friends and foes alike can heal old wounds and finally restore unity on the Korean peninsula, current and former heads of state and prominent U.S. political figures said Saturday at a major international rally.

November 21, 2020
FILE - In this May 15, 2020 file photo, Chief of Space Operations at United States Space Force Gen. John Raymond, left, and Chief Master Sgt. Roger Towberman, right, hold the U.S. Space Force flag as President Donald Trump walks past it, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. On Sept. 1, 2020, Space Force, the first new U.S. military service since the creation of the Air Force in 1947 swore in some 20 members stationed at the Al-Udeid Air Base, Qatar in its first foreign deployment. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Joe Biden pressured to scrap Space Force

The left is already gunning for one of President Trump's proudest and highest-profile achievements by lobbying presumed President-elect Joseph R. Biden to dismantle the Pentagon's new Space Force and roll back plans for U.S. military domination of the final frontier.

November 18, 2020
A supporter of Iran backed militia holds a poster of Iraq's Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, while others burning the building of Dijala local TV channel accusing it of broadcasting songs and dance on the holy Shiite day of Ashura in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Aug. 31, 2020. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

Abu Muhammea al-Masri hit reveals Iran-al Qaeda links

The reported assassination of a top al Qaeda leader on the streets of Tehran has raised fresh questions about the murky relationship between Iran and the radical Sunni terror group, as well as about the depths of clandestine U.S. and Israeli operations aimed at destroying that relationship.

November 17, 2020