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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

Although the Taliban continue attacks in Afghanistan, U.S. diplomats express optimism about reaching a comprehensive agreement to end the 18-year-old war and bring American troops home within 18 months. (Associated Press)

Taliban peace deal, Afghanistan War end in sight

Thousands of miles away from the political crises in Washington and the chaos in Venezuela, the Trump administration is making quiet, unexpected progress toward a tentative peace deal in Afghanistan, with top U.S. officials saying they are closer than ever to a comprehensive agreement with the Taliban in the 18-year conflict.

January 27, 2019
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio speaks to reporters about his support for U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam during a news conference at Elkay Manufacturing in Oak Brook, Ill., Monday, Oct. 29, 2018. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP) ** FILE **

Marco Rubio downplays notion of U.S. military action in Venezuela

The Trump administration has insisted that "all options are on the table" in dealing with unrest and instability in Venezuela, but one prominent lawmaker said Sunday that no one in Washington is seriously considering the idea of using military force to top the embattled regime in Caracas.

January 27, 2019
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro points to someone in the crowd as he sits inside the Supreme Court for an annual ceremony that marks the start of the judicial year in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. At right is Tibisay Lucena, president of the National Electoral Council. Venezuelans are heading into uncharted political waters after the young leader of a newly united opposition claimed Wednesday to hold the presidency and Maduro dug in for a fight with the Trump administration. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Nicolas Maduro Venezuela military backers reject U.S.-led challenge

Venezuela's military leaders came down squarely Thursday on the side of embattled President Nicolas Maduro, giving a boost to the socialist leader in the fight to save his job and setting the stage for a long, potentially violent standoff that carries deep geopolitical implications from Caracas to Washington.

January 24, 2019
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro gives his annual address to the nation, before members of the Constitutional Assembly inside the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, Jan. 14, 2019. Venezuela’s economic crisis is deepening, with masses fleeing the country to escape runaway inflation on pace to surpass 23 million percent. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

White House: ‘All options on the table’ in Venezuela

The U.S. and nations across the hemisphere launched a stunning, coordinated rebuke Wednesday and declared that Venezuelan socialist President Nicolas Maduro is no longer his country's legitimate leader, with President Trump vowing that "all options are on the table" -- including military action -- to deal with the long-running crisis in Caracas.

January 23, 2019
Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou has been granted bail in Canada as the fight over extraditing her to the U.S. — or letting her go home — grinds on in courts. (Associated Press)

U.S. to seek extradition of Huawei executive: Report

A high-stakes battle of wills between Washington and Beijing escalated Tuesday as the Trump administration said it will formally request that Canada extradite top tech executive Meng Wanzhou to face federal charges, while the Chinese government demanded she be allowed to come home and her company fiercely rejected charges it is spying on citizens and customers around the world.

January 22, 2019
In this Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019, photo, U.S. Coast Guard Culinary Specialist Jerry Wright, right, and Petty Officer 2nd Class Lauren Laughlin, second from right, stack boxes of donated cereal at a pop-up food pantry created at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn. The pantry was created by local Coast Guard-related advocacy groups to help hundreds of civilian and non-civilian Coast Guard employees to help makes ends meet during the partial federal government shutdown. (AP Photo/Susan Haigh)

Coast Guard blasts government shutdown, paycheck freeze

Coast Guard officials increasingly have been speaking out about the shutdown's impact on the service and on its member families, many of whom are turning to food pantries and local donation drives to get by.

January 21, 2019
This frame grab from video provided by Hawar News, ANHA, the news agency for the semi-autonomous Kurdish areas in Syria, shows a damaged restaurant where an explosion occurred, in Manbij, Syria, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Syrian war monitoring group, and a local town council said Wednesday that the explosion took place near a patrol of the U.S.-led coalition and that there are casualties. (ANHA via AP)

ISIS Syria attack renews debate over terrorists defeat, withdraw

A deadly suicide attack by the Islamic State that claimed the lives of four Americans and seriously injured several others in Syria on Wednesday has reignited debate in Washington over the Trump administration's claim that the terrorist group has been defeated and raised new questions in Congress about the president's plan to withdraw the 2,000 U.S. troops stationed there.

January 16, 2019
Capt. Philip Gunn participates in a flyover during the interment ceremony of retired Brig. Gen. Robinson Risner on Jan. 23, 2014, at Arlington National Cemetery. (Image: Air Force) ** FILE **

Donald Trump to unveil deep review of missile defense

Amid heightened threats around the world and Russia's claim of a new invulnerable weapon, President Trump and Pentagon leaders on Thursday will release the first sweeping review of U.S. missile defense systems in nearly a decade.

January 16, 2019
President Donald Trump addresses U.S. military troops and their families at the Sigonella Naval Air Station, in Sigonella, Italy, Saturday, May 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Donald Trump, generals blur political, military line

The long-standing line separating the U.S. military from the partisan political fray is being erased during the Trump era, Pentagon insiders and retired officers say, with a brigade of retired generals criticizing the commander in chief in TV appearances and on social media reaching a dangerous level.

January 6, 2019
Visitors look at a display for 5G wireless technology from Chinese technology firm Huawei at the PT Expo in Beijing, Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018. The government-organized event comes amid a mounting tariff war with Washington over Beijing's plans for the state-led creation of its own global technology competitors. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

5G networks raise China espionage fears

It's a technology that promises to revolutionize the telecommunications landscape in the U.S. and around the world, but 5G networks also present one of the most complex, geopolitically sensitive national security threats that the country has seen in decades.

January 3, 2019