Good morning. Mostly cloudy today with some scattered showers and a high around 70. Alex Ovechkin scored his 896th career goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets last night, and nobody even threw a party about it. The Nationals will play the Pirates in Pittsburgh this evening.
Washingtonian Today editor Andrew Beaujon is on vacation this week, so I will be here to hold your hand through the firehose of news until Friday. You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @kmcorliss.19 on Signal, and there’s a link to my email address below.
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A great book on my nightstand:
“Atavists” by Lydia Millet. When my high school principal sympathetically handed my diploma through the back window of my mom’s SUV in 2020, I think I might have felt a tiny bit less angsty if I’d known that five years later I’d acquire an advanced reader copy of this excellent short story collection, which pulls at every weird blade of our post-pandemic cultural landscape. Millet’s characters—who live in the same nondescript suburban area and bumble into one another’s storylines à la “The White Lotus”—engage with Instagram comments, internet porn, woman-hating tech bros, and various other discourse-generating realities of modern America. And somehow, it’s heartening? Look for it to hit shelves at your local bookstore on April 22.
Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out:
A new tariff in town: US Customs and Border Protection said late Friday that some electronics, including smartphones and computers, would be exempt from Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs on China. (Washington Post) This exemption would be a big relief for many US-based tech giants, including Apple, which manufactures 80 percent of its iPads and more than half of its Mac computers in China. (CNBC) However, on Sunday, commerce secretary Howard Lutnick killed the vibe by announcing that these goods will still be tariffed—instead of being subject to the “reciprocal” tariff, they’ll be affected by new tariffs on semiconductors, which he says “are coming in probably a month or two.” (ABC News) According to Trump, there was no “Tariff ‘exception’ ” announced Friday; rather, electronic goods will just be “moving to a different Tariff ‘bucket.’ ” (Truth Social) Trump said he will clarify his tariff policy at some point today. (ABC News)
Isn’t it semantic: Remember last week, when the Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” the release of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father who was deported to El Salvador last month by mistake? (NYT) Justice Department lawyers told a federal judge Sunday that, based on their interpretation of this ruling, the US government doesn’t have to do any “facilitating” apart from adjusting Garcia’s immigration status so he can re-enter the country if El Salvador decides to free him. (Politico) State Department official Michael Kozak told judge Paula Xinis Saturday night that Garcia is “alive and secure” in El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, adding that he is “detained pursuant to the sovereign, domestic authority of El Salvador.” (NPR) Trump is set to meet with President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador on Monday morning. (NYT) Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that 10 more immigrants were deported to El Salvador over the weekend. (The Hill) Former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince has been pitching the administration on his plan to ramp up deportations to El Salvador, including a proposal to claim part of a maximum security Salvadoran prison as US territory. (Politico)
More immigration news: The Trump administration has no proof that Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk publicly supported a terrorist organization or engaged in antisemitic activities—you know, all the transgressions that officials cited to justify revoking her visa—and the State Department knew all of this days before Ozturk was shepherded off the street by plainclothes ICE agents, according to an internal memo. (Washington Post) Meanwhile, an immigration judge in Louisiana has ruled that the administration can go ahead with the deportation of Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil; Khalil’s deadline to file for relief is April 23, and he can stay in the US until then. (NBC News) Homeland security secretary Kristi Noem has yanked temporary protected status for thousands of Afghan refugees, who will now be subject to deportation starting May 20. (NPR)
DOGE worry darling: Last week, Elon Musk posited that DOGE will save the US government about $150 billion by the end of the fiscal year—a rather far fall from the $2 trillion in cuts that he promised on the campaign trail. A New York Times analysis of DOGE’s online ledger found that even this latest estimate is quite ambitious. Among the “omissions and flaws” that reporters David A. Fahrenthold and Jeremy Singer-Vine noticed in the agency’s brag sheet: It claims to have saved $1.75 billion by canceling a vaccine nonprofit grant (that had already been paid in full), $1.9 billion by canceling an IRS contract (that had actually already been canceled under Joe Biden), and a random $92 billion that it does not explain at all. (NYT)
Administration perambulation: State Department official Pete Marocco, who oversaw the dissolution of USAID, just left the agency after less than three months. (Wall Street Journal) White House physician Dr. Sean P. Barbabella says Trump is in “excellent health” after his annual checkup; Trump agreed, saying he is in “very good shape,” not to mention in possession of “a good heart, a good soul.” (Politico) The Federal Trade Commission wants Meta to relinquish Instagram and WhatsApp—US District Judge James E. Boasberg will start reviewing the case today. (NYT) White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said Sunday on Meet the Press that “everything’s fine” between him and Musk, who called him a “moron” and “dumber than a sack of bricks” last week—with the caveat that this comparison is “unfair to bricks”—after Navarro suggested that Musk and Trump disagree on tariff policy. (NBC News) Trump says daylight savings time is “A VERY COSTLY EVENT!!!” and wants to get rid of it. (Truth Social)
The best thing I ate this weekend, by Jessica Sidman:
View this post on Instagram
Chef Tim Ma—who’s behind Chinese-American hit Lucky Danger and Any Day Now cafe—is bringing an all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant to H Street Northeast this spring. But there are already some destinations for unlimited rolls and nigiri in the suburbs. I recently decided to check out the deal at Sakaki Izakaya in Arlington ($29 for lunch, $45 for dinner with a 90-minute time limit). The group behind this newish Japanese izakaya also operate a number of trendy Asian spots in the region, including Urban Hot Pot, Southeast Impression, and many others. Your AYCE options at Sakaki are vast: gyoza, shrimp tempura udon, yakitori, and plenty of other staples. I homed in on the sushi and was overall pleasantly surprised. Some of the crazier rolls—soft-shell crab tempura topped with spicy tuna and passionfruit sauce—were a little too saucy for my tastes. But the simple rolls, like negi toro, and nigiri were solid, particularly the yellowtail and chutoro (medium-fatty tuna). Best of all, if you don’t like something, you can always order something else. Sakaki Izakaya, 3227 Washington Blvd., Arlington.
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
- Employees at the National Institute of Health no longer have to tell Elon Musk what they did this week.
- Do you have a hangover? It’s OK. Eat one of these breakfast sandwiches.
- Loose skin removal, “mini” facelifts, and more of the latest DC-area plastic surgery trends.
Local news links:
- DC Mayor Muriel Bowser wants the Trump administration to invest in sprucing up the city’s federally-owned parks. In a letter to Orville Greene, the head of the White House’s DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force, she points out that National Park Service cuts have hindered trash collection and other maintenance work: “That’s not beautiful.” (Washington Post)
- Cedar Hill hospital will open for care in Ward 8 tomorrow—it’s the District’s first new full-service hospital in 25 years. (Washington Business Journal)
- Transgender Virginia Army National Guard pilot Jo Ellis has filed a defamation suit against a far-right influencer who falsely accused her of flying the Black Hawk helicopter that collided with an American Airlines jet near Reagan National Airport in January, killing 67. (Washington Post)
- WorldPride organizers are concerned about members of the LGBTQ+ community traveling to DC for the festivities. (Axios DC)
- DC will celebrate its Emancipation Day on Wednesday—here’s what’s open and what’s closed. (WTOP)
- Virginia’s state tourism office opted out of paying to $360,000 to have its eateries featured in Michelin’s upcoming Southern restaurant guide. (Axios DC)
- You have until May 3 to shop local designer Chris Pyrate‘s cherry blossom-themed Metro merch line. (Metro x Chris Pyrate)
Did you miss our 100 Very Best Restaurants List? It’s here.
