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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

FILE - In this Sunday, July 15, 2018 file photo, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks during a press conference at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan. Talks next month in Moscow to discuss a peaceful end to 17-years of war in Afghanistan that includes a place at the table for the Taliban has ruffled feathers in Washington and Kabul, who are refusing to attend, and resurrected Cold War memories. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) **FILE**

Russia calls off planned Afghan peace conference

Russia on Monday officially called off a major peace conference on Afghanistan scheduled for next week after both the U.S. and Afghan governments said they wouldn't attend, leaving the Taliban as the only key player left on the guest list. Published August 27, 2018

In this Tuesday, June 12, 2018, photo, U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korea leader Kim Jong-un at the Capella resort on Sentosa Island in Singapore. Mr. Trump has already met twice with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but he is eager to re-create in Finland the heady experience that he had last month with Mr. Jong-un. That Singapore summit became a mass media event complete with powerful presidential images. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

North Korea blasts U.S. for canceling talks

The Trump administration's decision late last week to cancel another round of in-person talks with North Korea was met with harsh reaction over the weekend, with a state-run newspaper in Pyongyang accusing the U.S. of "hatching a criminal plot" against the reclusive country and Chinese officials blasting the White House as "irresponsible." Published August 26, 2018

"The landowners must not be afraid to embrace this process," South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told critics. "You say the landowners want certainty. I can tell you the people who are hungry for land also want certainty." (Associated Press)

South Africa plan to seize white-owned farms could destroy its economy, analysts warn

South Africa faces potential economic calamity if it moves ahead with the seizure of largely white-owned farmland, analysts warned this week, as global investors reacted to a plan that government leaders say is necessary to correct decades-old wrongs of apartheid that left deep, systemic wealth inequalities and land ownership disparities along racial lines. Published August 22, 2018

A helicopter belonging to the international coalition forces takes off from a base outside Mosul, Iraq, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2016. (AP Photo) ** FILE **

1 dead, 3 injured as U.S. helicopter crashes in Iraq

A U.S. helicopter crashed in Iraq on Monday morning, killing one and injuring at least three others, American officials said in a statement, marking the second fatal crash so far this year. Published August 20, 2018

China's President Xi Jinping takes his seat for the first closed session of the BRICS summit, in Johannesburg, South Africa, Thursday, July 26, 2018. The five leaders of the BRICS emerging economies have gathered in South Africa for an annual summit where the United States is being criticized for escalating tariffs on foreign goods. (Mike Hutchings/Pool Photo via AP) ** FILE **

China ‘likely training for strikes against U.S.,’ Pentagon warns

China's military is "likely training for strikes" against U.S. targets in the Pacific, the Defense Department warned Thursday in a sobering report that says Beijing's broader strategy is to develop armed forces capabilities able to "degrade" American advantages. Published August 17, 2018

U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, left, and Argentina's Defense Minister Oscar Raul Aguad arrive for a press conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2018. Mattis is on an official visit to several South American countries. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

U.S. to provide military security for G-20 summit in Argentina

The U.S. military will help provide security later this year for a key G-20 summit in Argentina, Defense Secretary James N. Mattis said Wednesday, casting the gathering as a key example of deepening ties between the two nations. Published August 16, 2018

A Russian Soyuz 2.1b rocket carrying Meteor M satellite and additional 18 small satellites, lifts off from the launch pad at the new Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2017. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Yleem D.S. Poblete raises alarm on Russia’s satellites

A top State Department official warned Tuesday that Russian "space apparatus inspector" satellites are behaving unlike anything seen before, and that current international inspection protocol makes it virtually impossible to know whether they could actually be space weapons. Published August 14, 2018

In this July 28, 2018, photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during the State Prize awards ceremony in Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, Pool) ** FILE **

Could Russian ‘inspector satellite’ actually be space weapon?

A top State Department official warned Tuesday that Russian "space apparatus inspector" satellites are behaving unlike anything seen before, and that current international inspection protocol makes it virtually impossible to know for sure whether they could actually be space-weapon prototypes. Published August 14, 2018

Defense Secretary James Mattis' authority to set U.S. troop levels for Afghanistan and the fight against Islamic State could ease the bitter bureaucratic battles that divided the Obama White House and the Pentagon over war strategy. (Associated Press/File)

‘Space Force’ key to counter Russia, China threats, military insiders say

President Trump's call for a U.S. "Space Force" may have turned into a punchline on Twitter and late-night TV, but U.S. intelligence agencies, military insiders and security experts say the nation must take real, concrete action to prepare for conflicts in space or risk falling behind its global foes, chiefly Russia and China. Published August 13, 2018

Vice President Mike Pence, speaking Thursday at the Pentagon, announced plans to create a U.S, Space Force to ensure American dominance in space amid heightened completion and threats from China and Russia. (Associated Press)

Pence, Pentagon promise ‘Space Force’ by 2020

The U.S. "Space Force" will become a reality by 2020, Vice President Mike Pence and Defense Secretary James N. Mattis promised Thursday, laying out an ambitious timeline to set up the first new branch of the armed forces in nearly 75 years and making the case that Americans must prepare for space threats from Russia, China, North Korea and other hostile actors. Published August 9, 2018

President Donald Trump speaks as he meets with business leaders, Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2018, at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Donald Trump’s ‘Space Force’ meets resistance in Pentagon, insiders say

The Pentagon is moving ahead with President Trump's call to establish a "Space Force" as a potential sixth branch of the U.S. armed forces, with top officials scrambling to tamp down reports of disagreement between military leaders and the White House ahead of a high-profile speech Thursday by Vice President Mike Pence. Published August 8, 2018

In this still from a video provided by Venezolana de Television, Presiden Nicolas Maduro, center, delivers his speech as his wife Cilia Flores winces and looks up after being startled by and explosion, in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2018. (Venezolana de Television via AP) ** FILE **

Nicolas Maduro drone assassination attempt raises copycat fears

The use of explosives-laden drones in an assassination attempt against Venezuela's president over the weekend has sent concern soaring among security officials over the growing threat that even consumer-level drones rigged with rudimentary bombs now pose to heads of state around the world. Published August 6, 2018