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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

Alaskans comb the beach along the Bering Sea to clean up debris. The exact origin of the garbage that washed up this summer is unclear, but local leaders said it was unlike anything they had seen before. (Associated Press)

Russia blamed for trash washing up on Alaska shores

Tribal leaders and federal agencies have reported a major rise this summer in the amount of plastics and other garbage washing ashore in the Bering Strait region of Alaska, much of it bearing Russian-language labels.

September 14, 2020
Taliban negotiator Abbas Stanikzai, fifth right, with his delegation attend the opening session of the peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Hussein Sayed) **FILE**

Afghans, Taliban engage in peace talks amid violence

The Taliban and U.S.-backed Afghan government began peace negotiations this weekend in what looks to be a once-in-a-generation opportunity to end decades of war, but another wave of violence across the country threatened to overshadow the historic meeting.

September 13, 2020
Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar speaks, bottom right, talks at the opening session of the peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Hussein Sayed)

Afghanistan peace talks marred by gunfights, IEDs

Long-awaited "inter-Afghan" peace talks between the Taliban and the U.S.-backed government in Kabul began this weekend, but continued violence across Afghanistan threatened to overshadow the historic gathering.

September 13, 2020
President Donald Trump salutes as he arrives on Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017, as he returns from Springfield, Mo. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Donald Trump Iraq, Afghanistan troop drawdown fulfills promise, fuels criticism

President Trump checked off a key campaign promise Wednesday with a major drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq and an even greater reduction in Afghanistan coming soon, but skeptics say the moves reflect U.S. political imperatives and not the chaos and violence both countries are likely to face down the road.

September 9, 2020
This photo released by TNT shows actor Adam Baldwin, second right, from the new TNT series "The Last Ship," standing on deck with U.S. Marine and Navy personnel from the USS Oak Hill as it arrives in New York for Fleet Week on Wednesday, May 21, 2014. On Tuesday, Baldwin hosted a special screening aboard the dock landing ship. The series, also starring Eric Dane and Rhona Mitra, premieres on Sunday, June 22, at 9 p.m. ET (AP Photo/TNT, E. M. Pio Roda)

More troops say they’ll vote for Biden than Trump: poll

More active-duty U.S. troops say they'll vote for former Vice President Joseph R. Biden than President Trump in the November election, a new poll shows, continuing a steady decline in the commander in chief's favorability ratings among service members.

August 31, 2020
U.S. forces have been patrolling Syrian oil fields, but critics question how a continued presence there benefits national security, particularly when tensions between Washington and Moscow are escalating rapidly. (Associated Press/File)

Clash with Russians in Syria renews debate on U.S. mission

U.S. troops' confrontation with Russian forces in Syria last week has raised fresh questions about the role of U.S. forces in Syria, exactly what the administration hopes to achieve, and what metrics U.S. commanders will use to finally declare victory and follow through on the president's repeatedly expressed determination to bring all American troops home.

August 30, 2020
FILE - In this Monday, Oct. 28, 2019 file photo, U.S. forces patrol Syrian oil fields, in eastern Syria.President Donald Trump's decision to dispatch new U.S. forces to eastern Syria to secure oil fields is being criticized by some experts as ill-defined and ambiguous. But the residents of the area, one of the country's most remote and richest regions, hope the U.S. focus on eastern Syria would bring an economic boon and eliminate what remains of the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad, File)

U.S., Russia trade blame for military vehicle collision in Syria

Washington and Moscow traded blame Thursday for a military vehicle collision in Syria earlier this week that left four American service members injured and offered another reminder of the dangers facing U.S. forces operating inside the war-torn country.

August 27, 2020