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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

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 visits Afghanistan amid troop drawdown

Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan Tuesday, meeting with Afghan officials and American troops as the U.S. continues a major drawdown from the country during President Trump's final weeks in office.

December 22, 2020
The U.S. Army employs a M270A1 Multiple Launch Rocket System during the first live-fire exercise from a Europe-based MLRS unit since 2004. (Image: U.S. Army, Grafenwoehr, Germany)

Army’s long-range cannon hits target 43 miles away

The Army's groundbreaking long-range cannon hit a target 43 miles away over the weekend, military officials said, marking another successful test of an artillery system that the Pentagon says will give the U.S. a major battlefield advantage over foes such as China and Russia.

December 22, 2020
In this photo made available by the U.S. Navy, the guided-missile submarine USS Georgia, front, with the guided-missile cruiser USS Port Royal, transit the Strait of Hormuz in Persian Gulf, Monday, Dec. 21, 2020. The vessels traversed the strategically vital waterway between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula on Monday, the U.S. Navy said, a rare announcement that comes amid rising tensions with Iran. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Indra Beaufort/U.S. Navy via AP)

Trump Iran pressure imperils Biden nuclear deal return desire

China, Russia and European nations seeking to salvage the Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran said Monday that they would welcome a U.S. return to the accord, but President Trump's escalation of pressure on the Iranian regime during his final weeks in office could hobble the incoming Biden administration's pursuit of diplomacy.

December 21, 2020
In this Feb. 16, 2013, file photo, North Korean defectors and South Korean activists prepare to launch helium balloons carrying leaflets against North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attached to them, during an anti-North Korea rally denouncing North Korea's third nuclear test at the Imjingak Pavilion near the border village of Panmunjom, in Paju, South Korea. South Korea's parliament on Monday, Dec. 14, 2020, approved a contentious revised act criminalizing the flying of leaflets toward North Korea, despite fierce criticism that it's sacrificing its freedom of expression principle to improve ties with rival North Korea. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)

South Korean officials defend controversial propaganda law

Top South Korean officials on Monday defended a controversial new law banning the flying of leaflets and other propaganda into North Korea by balloon, arguing that the measure will protect citizens living along the militarized border between the two nations.

December 21, 2020
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a Security Council meeting via video conference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, Friday, Dec. 18, 2020. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Putin congratulates Russia’s intel service after U.S. hit with massive cyberattack

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday publicly commended his country's SVR foreign intelligence service for its work protecting Moscow's interests. Many American officials and security experts believe the same Russian spy agency is responsible for a massive cyberattack on the U.S., the full extent of which is still being determined.

December 20, 2020
In this May 15, 2020, file photo, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley speaks during the presentation of the Space Force Flag in the Oval Office of the White House with President Donald Trump, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) **FILE**

Mark Milley navigates minefield of ‘Trumpian politics’

Military insiders say Gen. Mark A. Milley has routinely demonstrated the savvy and instincts needed to navigate issues ranging from a contentious election cycle that threatened to ensnare the armed forces to private disagreements between the Pentagon and White House.

December 17, 2020
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