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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

Protesters stick posters featuring Chinese President Xi Jinping on a pillar during a demonstration in Central, the financial district of Hong Kong, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2019. China reacted furiously to President Donald Trump's signing of two bills on Hong Kong human rights and said the U.S. will bear the unspecified consequences. A foreign ministry statement Thursday repeated heated condemnations of the laws and said China will counteract. It said all the people of Hong Kong and China oppose the move. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Pentagon’s top Asia official resigns

The Pentagon's top Asia policy official resigned Thursday, officials said, creating a key void inside the Defense Department at a time when the military's prime focus has turned to China and the Pacific region.

December 12, 2019
Crewmen rest their weapons after training with Bradley fighting vehicles at a US military base at undisclosed location in Northeastern Syria, Monday, Nov. 11, 2019. The deployment of the mechanized force comes after US troops withdrew from northeastern Syria, making way for a Turkish offensive that began last month. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Pentagon says full Syria withdrawal many years off

Top Pentagon officials suggested Wednesday that President Trump's goal of a full withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria may still be years away, conceding that "it's hard to foresee anytime soon" that the U.S. and its allies will completely crush the threat posed by the Islamic State.

December 11, 2019
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (left) declared Tuesday that it was difficult to work with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on anything when the U.S. continues to make allegations of Russian interference in U.S. presidential elections. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Mike Pompeo, Sergey Lavrov spar again over Russian meddling

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a face-to-face warning to his Russian counterpart on Tuesday, vowing that the Trump administration "will take action" if Moscow seeks to interfere in the looming 2020 U.S. presidential election.

December 10, 2019
This photo taken from video provided by WEAR-TV shows emergency responders near the Naval Air Base Station in Pensacola, Fla., Friday, Dec. 6, 2019. The US Navy is confirming that an active shooter and one other person are dead after gunfire at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola. Area hospital representatives tell The Associated Press that at least 11 people were hospitalized. The base remains locked down amid a huge law enforcement response.  (WEAR-TV via AP)

4 dead, including shooter, in gunfire at Florida naval base

A Saudi Arabian aviation student killed three people and wounded at least seven others at Naval Air Station Pensacola on Friday morning, officials said, and the assailant was later shot and killed by sheriff's deputies who responded to the scene.

December 6, 2019
FILE - In this Nov. 20, 2019, file photo, people walk past buildings that were burned during recent protests, in Shahriar, Iran, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of the capital, Tehran. Amnesty International says at least 208 people in Iran have been killed amid protests over sharply rising gasoline prices and a subsequent crackdown by security forces. The country has yet to release any nationwide statistics about the unrest last month. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

Iran ‘murdered’ over 1,000 protesters, U.S. officials say

More than 1,000 Iranian protesters may have been "murdered" in recent weeks by the country's internal security services, top Trump administration officials said Thursday, while the Pentagon skirted questions about plans to send thousands of additional U.S. troops to the region to contain Iran in the region.

December 5, 2019
In this Oct. 4, 2017, photo, U.S. Army recruit Kirsten practices building clearing tactics with male recruits at Ft. Benning, Ga. She is one of a handful of women training to become infantry soldiers. The Army’s introduction of women into the infantry has moved steadily but cautiously this year. As home to the previously all-male infantry and armor schools, Fort Benning had to make a number of adjustments, including female dorm rooms, security cameras, monitoring stations. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

U.S. military must overhaul body armor for women, senators say

The U.S. military is not providing adequate body armor and other protective gear to all of its female service members, increasing their risk of injury and compromising their readiness for battle, a bipartisan group of senators argued Wednesday as they unveiled new legislation to overhaul the current system.

December 4, 2019
President Donald Trump, joined by from left, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, speaks to media during a briefing with senior military leaders in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 7, 2019. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) **FILE**

Mark Esper, Mark Milley to testify on Syria next week

Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley will answer questions before a key House committee next week on the Trump administration's murky policy in Syria, House Democrats announced Tuesday.

December 3, 2019
VIRGINIA CLASS ATTACK SUBMARINE — The Virginia-class attack submarine USS California (SSN 781) underway during sea trials. (U.S. Navy photo by Chris Oxley/Released) ** FILE **

Navy to pay $22 billion for 9 nuclear-powered submarines

The Navy announced the largest shipbuilding contract in the service's history, striking a $22.2 billion deal with top defense contractor General Dynamics for nine cutting-edge, nuclear-powered submarines that officials say will bring about a "generational leap" in America's military might.

December 3, 2019
President Donald Trump smiles before addressing members of the military during a surprise Thanksgiving Day visit, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2019, at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Donald Trump sees military orders modified in Syria, Afghanistan

Nearly a full year after President Trump first said he was withdrawing all U.S. troops from Syria and two months after he doubled down on that directive, Pentagon officials last week announced that they had restarted combat missions against the Islamic State group and "reset" inside the country with hundreds of American troops on the ground.

December 1, 2019
Ousted Navy Secretary Richard Spencer publicly clashed with President Trump over whether Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher, who served eight combat tours during his two decades as a Navy SEAL, would be allowed to retain his Trident pin, which symbolizes membership in the elite unit. (Associated Press/File)

Richard Spencer out as Navy secretary

Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer was fired Sunday after apparently proposing a secret deal with the White House regarding the fate of Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher, leading to a loss of "trust and confidence" in the Navy leader among top officials inside the Pentagon.

November 24, 2019
Navy Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher leaves a military court on Naval Base San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

Donald Trump overrules Navy on Edward Gallagher case

President Trump widened a rift with top U.S. military commanders Thursday by publicly ordering the Pentagon to abandon a process that could have resulted in booting Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher out of the elite unit -- an unexpected power play by the commander in chief that has left the Navy in what one former senior Pentagon official called a "no-win situation."

November 21, 2019
South Korea's chief negotiator Jeong Eun Bo answers a reporter's question after a meeting with U.S. counterpart James DeHart at Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019. U.S. and South Korean officials have publicly acknowledged the allies remain far apart in negotiations for increasing South Korea's contributions to the costs for maintaining the American military presence on its soil. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

U.S. walks out of defense spending talks with South Korea

Talks on boosting South Korea's financial support for the U.S. military defense aid in the country broke down Tuesday as Seoul firmly rejected the Trump administration's reported demand for a fivefold increase in the annual bill to cover the cost of American troops on the peninsula.

November 19, 2019
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos speaks at the the Amazon re:MARS convention, Thursday, June 6, 2019, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Amazon JEDI lawsuit threatens to ensnare Donald Trump

The White House faces a "very ugly" legal battle with Amazon over the handling of a massive contract to handle the Pentagon's vast cloud computing needs, experts say, and top administration officials ultimately may have to reveal under oath whether President Trump personally interfered in the process.

November 18, 2019