Good morning. Cool this morning, then a mostly sunny day will warm to a high around 82. A low near 65 overnight. You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @abeaujon.87 on Signal, and there’s a link to my email address below.
Sports this weekend: The Nationals will host the Dodgers in their home opener this afternoon, and they’ll play them again on Saturday and Sunday. (Here’s our guide to food and drink at Nationals Park this season, and another list of specials at establishments near the ballpark.) Old Glory DC opens its 2026 season with a visit to the Seattle Seawolves tonight. The DC Defenders visit the Columbus Aviators tonight. The Capitals host Buffalo Saturday and visit the Rangers Sunday. The Wizards visit Miami Saturday and Brooklyn Sunday. DC United host FC Dallas at Audi Field Saturday. The Washington Spirit visit Bay FC Sunday.
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I can’t stop listening to:
Bab L’ Bluz, “Ila Mata.” I have heard that this Moroccan/French band is a ton of fun live. Find out for yourself when they play Songbyrd tonight.
Take Washingtonian Today with you! I keep ridiculously long playlists on Apple Music and on Spotify of this year’s music recommendations. Here are 2025’s songs (Apple, Spotify), too.
Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out:
War news: Iran has retained a great deal of its capacity to fire missiles and drones, according to recent US intelligence assessments. An Iranian drone attack caused multiple fires at Kuwait’s Mina al-Ahmadi refinery overnight. Iran launched around 30 missiles at Israel since Wednesday morning. Oil prices surged again as traders reacted to President Trump‘s televised address this week, when he offered no clear timeline for an end to the war on Iran he started last month. The US bombed a bridge near Tehran, a significant attack on civilian infrastructure. Trump said there was “much more to follow.” Some Republicans are worried the war is “overshadowing the White House’s affordability message.” (The average price of a gallon of gas in the US crept up again yesterday, and mortgage rates rose, too.) Did the two-week-or-so timeline the President offered for the war in his speech sound familiar? He’s offered a similar temporal frame “countless times since returning to the White House last January.”
Top cop dropped: Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi yesterday. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who like Bondi is a former personal lawyer to Trump, will take over the Justice Department on an acting basis. (WSJ) Tales of palace intrigue have begun to appear. Bondi was unable to sate Trump’s “appetite for retribution,” and advisers like Bill Pulte and Boris Epshteyn had argued for her ouster. (NYT) Trump “was frustrated she didn’t do more to contain fallout from the department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigative files and incensed that she had not successfully prosecuted a number of his political enemies.” He gave her the news on the way to the Supreme Court earlier this week. (WSJ) Trump reportedly “believes Bondi tipped off” US Representative Eric Swalwell of California about an effort to release files from an old FBI investigation into him. (Daily Mail) Bondi “did almost everything Donald Trump asked. It wasn’t enough.” (Politico) Trump has “floated the possibility of appointing her as a judge.” (CNN) Are more shakeups coming? Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer may follow Bondi and Kristi Noem out the door. (Politico) Others supposedly on the edge: FBI Director Kash Patel and Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll. (Atlantic) Democrats on the House Oversight Committee contend that a subpoena for Bondi still stands. (Axios)
Meanwhile, at the Pentagon: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired the Army’s top officer, General Randy George. (CBS News) The unusual move during wartime was a “product of Mr. Hegseth’s long-running grievances with the Army.” (NYT) Hegseth has now “remade nearly the entire Joint Chiefs of Staff.” (Washington Post) Hegseth ousted two other generals and elevated General Christopher LaNeve, who’s had a “meteoric rise” under his watch. (AP)
DH-mess: A Senate-passed bipartisan measure to reopen the Department of Homeland Security “doesn’t have the votes” to pass the House. Speaker Mike Johnson spent three hours yesterday trying to convince Republicans to vote for a funding bill he called a “joke” last week. (Punchbowl News) Johnson’s “contortions” on the legislation “reflect his weak hold on his tiny and fractious majority.” (NYT) Meanwhile, an immigration judge blocked the deportation of Subramanyam Vedam, who was freed from prison last year after a murder conviction was overturned. (NYT) In California, a federal judge found that US Customs and Border Protection agents had established a “pattern and practice of warrantless arrests.” (The Hill) ICE agents have reportedly detained Salah Sarsour, the leader of Wisconsin’s largest mosque. (Reuters)
Administration perambulation: Trump imposed a 100 percent tariff on drugs “made by companies that have not agreed to lower their retail prices.” The administration says the tax is authorized by a law untouched by the Supreme Court’s recent decision that invalidated other tariffs. (Washington Post) As expected, the National Capital Planning Commission, stocked with Trump loyalists, approved his plan to add a massive ballroom to the White House. (Washington Post) Here’s a look at the military bunker going in below it. (NYT) Tiger Woods told cops he’d been on the phone with Trump after his recent crash in Florida. (NBC News)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Our food critic Ann Limpert writes that Maru San, Carlos Delgado‘s new Japanese/Peruvian fine-casual restaurant in Eastern Market, “is easily the best restaurant to open in DC so far this year.” Limpert also took a first look at the luxe sushi and bar snacks at Katsumi, in the former Bar Japonais space in Logan Circle.
• DC Comedy Club will put on its first show tomorrow. Rola Zaarour tells us what led her to establish the District’s only fully woman-owned comedy club.
• Here’s a list of kid-friendly Easter events this weekend.
• Social-media darling PopUp Bagels will open in Georgetown next week.
• Every month we plan an imaginary dinner party. Here are the Washingtonians we’d like to invite.
Local news links:
• The Washington Wizards apologized for a scripted April Fools’ joke that “left many wondering if we had misled a fan.” (ESPN) Here’s a video of the stunt.
• Police say Brady Ebert, the former guitarist for Turnstile, tried to run over singer Brendan Yates‘s father in Silver Spring. (NYT)
• Brian Cole Jr., who’s accused of planting pipe bombs at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, “might rely on a debunked conspiracy theory — that a Capitol Police officer planted the explosives — as his trial defense.” (Washington Post)
• About 33,000 Virginians have dropped off Obamacare plans since Congress declined to renew subsidies for premiums. More will likely follow. (Virginia Mercury)
• Wild times in District politics: Council President Phil Mendelson‘s office “mistakenly filed a printed copy of an email” that said Mendelson would use a printer in his office to produce copies of a challenge to scandal-plagued Jack Evans‘s bid to replace him. Evans has filed complaints. (WCP)
• A New Jersey woman says she found three baby rats inside her car after a trip to DC. Anna Grabowski contends the pups’ mother caused $15,000 in damage to her vehicle. (Fox 5)
• Police in Alexandria say a local man got scammed out of nearly a half-million dollars by someone he met on Tinder. (ALXnow)
• Plans for an ax-throwing venue in Clarendon got tossed. (ARLnow)
• Tuition for some GWU students will top $98,000 next year. (Washington Post)
• MoCo’s new German-made speed cameras “resemble creatures from ‘Star Wars’ or Tesla Cybertrucks.” (WTOP)
• In 1995, $600K would buy you a Georgetown townhouse. These days, such a budget “puts you firmly in condo territory.” (UrbanTurf)
Weekend event picks:
Friday: Nate Bargatze plays the second of two nights at Capital One Arena.
Saturday: Petalpalooza blooms at Navy Yard—expect art, music, and fireworks.
Sunday: Catch the opening weekend for “The Minutes” at Keegan Theatre.
See lots more picks for the weekend from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.
Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.
