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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

Gas prices are posted as .999 for regular and 1.37 for premium at a Sam's Club Tuesday, April 21, 2020, in Oklahoma City, as oil prices continue to drop, because very few people are flying or driving, and factories have shut amid widespread stay-at-home orders due to COVID-19. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Cheap oil benefits muted by coronavirus economic shutdown

Global economic shutdowns and rock-bottom oil prices have created a perfect storm around the world that has left even the usual beneficiaries of plummeting energy markets -- major importers, developing nations, energy-using industries, the travel industry and consumers -- struggling to reap any rewards.

April 21, 2020
In this June 19, 2017, file photo, President Donald Trump, from left, and Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft, listen as Jeff Bezos, chief executive officer of Amazon, speaks during an American Technology Council roundtable in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington. The Pentagon says new Secretary of Defense Mike Esper is reviewing the bid process for the military's $10 billion cloud-computing contract. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Amazon vows to fight Trump administration despite watchdog report on defense contract

President Trump and the Pentagon scored a big victory this week when a watchdog report found Defense Department officials followed the law in awarding a massive military cloud computing contract to Microsoft -- but the battle is far from over as rival Amazon and other critics train their fire at the White House and charge that the president's use of executive privilege raises even more questions.

April 16, 2020
The sun sets behind an idle pump jack near Karnes City, Texas, Wednesday, April 8, 2020. Demand for oil continues to fall due to the new coronavirus outbreak. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Trump claims credit after Russia-Saudi Arabia oil deal

President Trump took a victory lap as global oil prices ticked up slightly Monday, a day after his personal diplomacy helped nail down a deal among Russia, Saudi Arabia and other major players to cut production in response to an unprecedented collapse in demand because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

April 13, 2020
Defense Secretary Mark Esper said his department is prepared to make available respiratory masks and military ventilators to treat patients. (Associated Press)

Mark Esper orders all personnel to wear masks on on military installations

The Pentagon on Sunday tightened its policy on face masks to stop the spread of coronavirus, issuing new guidance that requires all military and civilian personnel, along with family members, contractors and guests on military installations, to wear a "cloth face recovering" if they're unable to stay at least six feet away from others.

April 5, 2020
In this Nov. 15, 2019, photo U.S. Navy Capt. Brett Crozier, commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), addresses the crew during an all-hands call on the ship's flight deck. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Nicholas Huynh via AP)

Pentagon tamps down Navy captain Brett Crozier sacking firestorm

The Pentagon on Sunday scrambled to tamp down a growing firestorm over last week's dismissal of a Navy captain who warned that the coronavirus was overrunning his ship and his sailors were in grave danger, with the incident dividing lawmakers and former top military officials while sparking another personnel controversy inside the Defense Department.

April 5, 2020
SAN DIEGO (Nov. 1, 2019) Capt. Brett Crozier addresses the crew for the first time as commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71). (U.S. Navy photo)

Brett Crozier, captain of USS Roosevelt, given hero’s send-off after firing

Hours after being fired, USS Theodore Roosevelt Capt. Brett Crozier was given a hero's sendoff Thursday night by the sailors aboard his coronavirus-stricken vessel, raising fresh questions about how the Navy's decision to remove him from his post will play among rank-and-file service members.

April 3, 2020
A journalist records speakers at a press briefing following the arrival of the USNS Comfort, a naval hospital ship with a 1,000 bed-capacity, Monday, March 30, 2020, at Pier 90 in New York. The ship will be used to treat patients who do not have the new coronavirus as land-based hospitals fill up to capacity with those that do. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Navy may build two hospital ships, Trump says

The military hospital ships USNS Comfort and USNS Mercy are proving so valuable in the nation's fight against the coronavirus that the U.S. may build two more like them, President Trump said Wednesday.

April 1, 2020
Marines with Battery N, 5th Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, fire an M777 A2 howitzer during a series of integrated firing exercises at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Centter Twentynine Palms' Quakenbush Training Area April 26, 2013. (credit: U.S. Marine Corps)

U.S. military ‘readiness’ at risk as coronavirus rips through ranks

The rapid spread of the coronavirus through the ranks has sparked one of the greatest challenges U.S. military leaders have faced in decades: how to maintain readiness and monitor enemy threats while simultaneously shielding men and women in uniform around the world from a deadly health risk.

March 31, 2020
U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Richard Sippl, UH-1Y Venom, flight crew chief assigned to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 169 (HMLA-169) fires a 7.62mm GAU-17/A Minigun July 22, 2012, during a live fire combat training mission over the Pohakuloa Training Area, (PTA) Hawaii during Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise 2012. HMLA-169 is part of the aviation combat element of special purpose Marine air-ground task force three. Twenty-two nations, more than 40 ships and submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC exercise from Jun. 29 to Aug. 3, in and around the Hawaiian Islands. The world's largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain the cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the worlds oceans. RIMPAC 2012 is the 23rd exercise in the series that began in 1971. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Michael R. Holzworth)

Marine Corps cuts helicopters, tanks for possible China conflict

The Marine Corps plans to give up its tanks, dramatically remake its artillery batteries, cut its helicopter fleet and take a host of other "radical" steps in arguably the most sweeping American military overhaul in a century -- all with the goal of preparing for a potential 21st-century conflict with China.

March 30, 2020