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Ben Wolfgang

Ben Wolfgang

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

U.S. Navy SEALs in action. (U.S. Navy photo)

Al-Shabab spurs U.S. military action in terror fight

Despite reports the Pentagon will pull back its presence in Africa, the Trump administration's military campaign against a radical Islamist group in Somalia is accelerating to a record level amid allegations from leading human rights groups that the U.S. is killing civilians and perpetrating war crimes. Published March 20, 2019

From the left, Sergei Ivanov, Russian special representative on questions of ecology and transport, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chief of General Staff of Russia Valery Gerasimov, oversee the test launch of the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle from the Defense Ministry's control room in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2018. In the test, the Avangard was launched from the Dombarovskiy missile base in the southern Ural Mountains. The Kremlin says it successfully hit a designated practice target on the Kura shooting range on Kamchatka, 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) away. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russia ‘hybrid warfare’ plan employs cyberattacks, military action

Russia will use high-tech disinformation campaigns combined with "limited" military actions as the cornerstones of a grand plan to divide the West and re-establish itself as a global force -- a broad geopolitical strategy that analysts and insiders fear has caught the U.S. and its allies flat-footed. Published March 18, 2019

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman James M. Inhofe (left), Oklahoma Republican, welcomed acting Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan to his first appearance on Capitol Hill since assuming the job Jan. 1. (Associated Press)

Patrick Shanahan, Joseph Dunford deny Trump ‘slush fund’

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan on Thursday defended the Pentagon's $718 billion fiscal 2020 budget request in the face of Democratic complaints that the Trump administration is setting up a slush fund to finance the president's priorities. Published March 14, 2019

Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad said the U.S. and the Taliban agreed to draft a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. forces. (Associated Press)

Afghan leaders complain of exclusion from U.S., Taliban talks

Current and former high-level Afghan officials on Wednesday slammed the Trump administration's push to reach a peace deal with the Taliban, saying the escalating talks were tantamount to a "back-door deal" between Washington and the terror group at the expense of an elected government in Kabul. Published March 13, 2019

Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan talks to media as he meets with and Qatari Minister of Defense Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah, at the Pentagon, Tuesday, March 12, 2019. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Ethics group lodges complaint against Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan

A leading Washington watchdog on Wednesday filed a formal complaint and asked the Defense Department inspector general to investigate whether acting Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan violated ethics rules by lobbying for major military contractor Boeing, where Mr. Shanahan worked for three decades. Published March 13, 2019

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks to supporters during a government rally in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, March 9, 2019. Demonstrators danced and waved flags on what organizers labeled a “day of anti-imperialism” in a show of defiance toward the United States, which has imposed oil sanctions on Venezuela in an attempt to oust the president. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

U.S. ramps up Venezuela sanctions, targets Russia-based bank

The Trump administration on Monday ramped up its economic sanctions on Venezuela, targeting a Russian bank that officials say has provided illicit financing to Venezuela's embattled socialist president, Nicolas Maduro. Published March 11, 2019

"We know the risks that we face. That's never stopped us," said Venezuelan interim President Juan Guaido. He called for more mass protests on Saturday. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Juan Guaido defiantly returns to Caracas

With thousands of supporters gathered in the streets of Venezuela, Juan Guaido defied government threats and returned home Monday, in a spectacle that analysts say could mark a major turning point in the global push to install the young opposition leader as his country's rightful president and oust incumbent socialist President Nicolas Maduro from power. Published March 4, 2019

Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan gestures while speakings to members of the media aboard a military plane prior to his arrival at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. Shanahan spoke about the US-Mexico border after visiting the El Paso, Texas area. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Pool)

Pentagon cancels South Korea military drills

The U.S. and South Korea will end an annual series of key military drills, both nations said Saturday night in a major announcement aimed at boosting diplomatic outreach to North Korea and saving a potential denuclearization deal. Published March 2, 2019

President Donald Trump speaks to service members at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019, in Anchorage, Alaska., during a refueling stop as he returns from Hanoi. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

North Korea summit failure called win for Donald Trump

In sticking to that blueprint under a hot international spotlight in Hanoi, the real estate tycoon-turned-president may have emerged from this week's failed summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un as a winner. Published February 28, 2019

Pakistani soldiers patrol in the area where Indian planes launched a pre-dawn airstrike inside Pakistan. Pakistan's military said Wednesday it shot down two Indian warplanes in the disputed region of Kashmir and captured two pilots. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

India-Pakistan tensions boiling over

Long-simmering tensions boiled over into direct clashes Wednesday as Pakistan shot down two Indian fighter jets and took one pilot hostage, fueling the possibility of all-out war as the Trump administration and world leaders pleaded with the two nuclear-armed states and South Asian rivals to step back from open conflict. Published February 27, 2019

Pakistani protesters burn an effigy of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a rally in Peshawar, Pakistan, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019. Pakistan's military said Wednesday it shot down two Indian warplanes in the disputed region of Kashmir and captured two pilots, raising tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals to a level unseen in 20 years. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)

Mike Pompeo tries to calm India-Pakistan tensions: ‘Avoid escalation at any cost’

Long-simmering tensions boiled over into direct clashes Wednesday as Pakistan shot down two Indian fighter jets and took one pilot hostage, fueling the possibility of all-out war as the Trump administration and world leaders pleaded with the two nuclear-armed states and South Asian rivals to step back from open conflict. Published February 27, 2019

In this Oct. 9, 2007, file photo, reviewed by a U.S. Dept of Defense official, U.S. military personnel inspect each occupied cell on a two-minute cycle at Camp 5 maximum-security facility on the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in Cuba. An effort to decrease the detainee population appears to have bogged down as authorities wrestle with what to do with those who cannot easily be brought to trial but are considered too dangerous to free, and others who have been cleared for release but can’t be sent to their home countries. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File)

Guantanamo Bay prison detainees not an option for Donald Trump

President Trump's campaign promise to "load up" the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay with captives from the war on terror has gone nowhere, and he has joined his predecessor in failing to follow through on plans for the controversial prison on the southeastern tip of Cuba. Published February 21, 2019