Skip to content
TRENDING:
Donald Trump
Advertisement
Author profile
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

off to war: George H.W. Bush was the youngest torpedo-bomber pilot in the Navy, earning his wings at 18. (White House archives)

George H.W. Bush made history for decades

He served in World War II as the nation's youngest Navy combat pilot, surviving a fiery crash over Chichijima in 1944 and earning the Distinguished Flying Cross.

December 2, 2018
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to the media after the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018. Putin and Trump "said hi to each other," according to the Russian leader's spokesman — but didn't shake hands or otherwise interchange, even during the "family photo" when leaders rub elbows as they get into place and usually exchange small talk. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Vladimir Putin’s ‘deep fakes’ threaten U.S. elections

U.S. leaders say Vladimir Putin used a familiar cyber playbook to "muck around" in the midterm elections last month, but intelligence officials and key lawmakers believe a much more sinister, potentially devastating threat lies just down the road -- one that represents an attack on reality itself.

December 2, 2018
In this Aug. 21, 2014, photo, Navy Adm. William McRaven addresses the Texas Board of Regents in Austin, Texas. President Donald Trump is drawing heavy criticism for faulting a war hero for not capturing al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden sooner. Trump took shots at retired Adm. William McRaven in a Fox News interview Sunday, Nov. 18, 2018, in which he also asserted that the former Navy SEAL was a “backer” of Trump’s 2016 rival, Hillary Clinton (AP Photo/Eric Gay) **FILE**

William McRaven: President must trust military leaders

He steered clear of directly firing back at President Trump, but retired Adm. William McRaven -- the architect of the 2011 U.S. special operations mission that killed Osama bin Laden -- told a Texas audience Friday that military leadership is impossible without the full trust of the commander in chief.

November 30, 2018
In this March 29, 2017, file photo, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., speaks to reporters about his panel's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Richard Burr on Michael Cohen plea: ‘If you lie to us, we’re going to go after you’

A day after President Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress, the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee warned that anyone else who lies to lawmakers will face a similar fate, and he said that the committee has worked with special prosecutor Robert Mueller and has made multiple referrals for criminal prosecutions.

November 30, 2018
President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands at the beginning of a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

Russia-Ukraine Kerch Strait incident tests Donald Trump, U.S. power

Russian President Vladimir Putin is bent on testing American resolve around the world, with a brazen attack on three Ukrainian ships last weekend marking the latest in the former KGB spy's grand strategy to measure the strength of U.S. alliances and challenge the international democratic order.

November 27, 2018
Then-United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks during a security council meeting about the escalating tensions between the Ukraine and Russia at United Nations headquarters, Monday, Nov. 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Russia-Ukraine Kerch Strait incident draws international condemnation

With Ukraine "screaming for help" and moving toward martial law, the U.S., NATO and other international leaders on Monday promised serious consequences for Russia's latest act of aggression against its neighbor -- but they struggled to find concrete ways to resist an emboldened Kremlin in the region.

November 26, 2018
People carry the coffin of a relative who died in Thursday's suicide attack on a Shiite cultural center in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Dec. 29, 2017. An Islamic State suicide bomber has struck a Shiite cultural center in Kabul, killing dozens of people and underscoring the extremist group's growing reach in Afghanistan even as its self-styled caliphate in Iraq and Syria has been dismantled. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

ISIS horror, mass graves in Syria, Iraq revealed

The brutal legacy of the Islamic State is only now coming into clearer focus as rebuilding efforts across Iraq and Syria uncover hundreds of mass graves and fully pull back the curtain on four years of unspeakable atrocities.

November 20, 2018
BREAKING NEWS BANNER FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES

40 killed in Afghanistan suicide bombing

At least 40 people were killed and scores more injured Tuesday when a suicide bomber struck a gathering of religious scholars at a wedding hall in Kabul, Afghanistan, officials told the Associated Press.

November 20, 2018
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis arrives to speak to reporters at the Pentagon in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

James Mattis pressed on Pentagon budget cuts

U.S. military services on Monday began a process few expected under President Trump: finding programs they're willing to sacrifice in the face of looming multibillion-dollar budget cuts demanded by the White House.

November 19, 2018
Jamal Khashoggi, general manager of a new Arabic news channel, speaks during a press conference in Manama, Bahrain, Monday, Dec. 15, 2014. The Arabic-language station funded by Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal will be based in Bahrain and begin transmission Feb. 1, 2015. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

Donald Trump doesn’t want to hear Jamal Khashoggi death recording

Amid reports that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally ordered the killing of U.S. journalist Jamal Khashoggi, President Trump said Sunday he's not interested in listening to an audio tape of the killing last month inside the Saudi Consulate in Turkey.

November 18, 2018
Two U.S. Air Force F-22 fighter jets perform a flyover during the playing of the national anthem before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Saturday, July 7, 2018, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack) ** FILE **

Air Force pilot dead in T-38C Talon supersonic jet crash in Texas

An Air Force pilot is dead and another was hospitalized after an Air Force T-38C Talon aircraft crashed at Laughlin Air Force Base in south Texas late Tuesday, military officials said, marking the fifth incident this year involving the supersonic jet and shining on a new spotlight on an already embattled base.

November 14, 2018
In this Sept. 19, 2018, file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks during a joint press conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the Paekhwawon State Guesthouse in Pyongyang, North Korea. (Pyongyang Press Corps Pool via AP, File)

Donald Trump rejects North Korea ‘undeclared’ missile site report

President Trump on Tuesday dismissed reports that North Korea is operating more than a dozen "undeclared" missile sites, suggesting the development won't derail a potential second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that administration officials say they hope can occur early next year.

November 13, 2018
FILE - In this Sept. 22, 2016, file photo, a man stands among the rubble of the Alsonidar Group's water pump and pipe factory after it was hit by Saudi-led airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen. The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said early Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018, it had "requested cessation of inflight refueling" by the U.S. for its fighter jets after American officials said they would stop the operations amid growing anger over civilian casualties from the kingdom's airstrikes. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File)

As tensions rise, U.S. ends refueling of Saudi planes

The Pentagon said late Friday the U.S. would no longer refuel planes for the Saudi Arabia-led coalition battling Houthi rebels in Yemen, suggesting the Trump administration may be taking concrete steps to end support for the controversial war amid continued reports of high civilian casualties.

November 10, 2018
President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the East Room at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2018. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Democrats House win may alter Trump foreign policy

By seizing control of the House, Democrats have set the stage for a power struggle with President Trump that will reverberate around the world, foreign policy experts said Wednesday.

November 7, 2018