Good morning. A cloudy start, then mostly sunny with a high around 65. A low near 48 overnight. The Nationals wrap up a homestand against Minnesota this afternoon. You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @abeaujon.87 on Signal, and there’s a link to my email address below.
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I can’t stop listening to:
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, “Fishin’ in the Dark.” The country-roots band is on a farewell tour; it stops at the Lincoln Theatre 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: The US “believes it’s getting close to an agreement with Iran” and expects a “one-page memorandum of understanding to end the war and set a framework for more detailed nuclear negotiations.” (Axios) President Trump, as he’s done many times, declared victory in the more than two-month-old war he started and claimed he’d achieved regime change in Tehran yesterday. He claimed, “while flanked by UFC fighters” in the Oval Office, that Iran had agreed not to have nuclear weapons. (WSJ) It’s not yet clear whether Iran has the same understanding. It acknowledged receiving a US proposal yesterday, and Pakistan, which is attempting to broker a deal between the nations, said it expects an agreement “sooner rather than later.” (AP)
But here’s the thing. The Strait of Hormuz is still essentially closed. Trump surprised US allies in the Persian Gulf region with his announcement Sunday of an attempt to forcefully reopen the waterway, and Saudi Arabia declined to allow US forces to use bases there or its airspace to support the effort. (NBC News) Satellite imagery shows that Iran has “damaged or destroyed at least 228 structures or pieces of equipment at U.S. military sites across the Middle East since the war began.” The extensive damage “suggested that the U.S. military had underestimated Iran’s targeting abilities, not adapted sufficiently to modern drone warfare and left some bases under-protected.” (Washington Post) At home, the average price of a gallon of gas climbed to $4.558 yesterday. (AAA) Jet fuel prices have shot up, too, something Americans are likely to notice as they book summer travel, and “Privately, President Trump’s advisers are increasingly worried that Republicans will pay a political price for the rising fuel costs.” (WSJ) And the “whirlwind 24 hours of decision-making by the Trump administration also reflects a realization that any alternative to an agreement ‘is going to range from unpalatable to outright ugly.'” (AP) Meanwhile: Secretary of State Marco Rubio will try to smooth things over with Pope Leo XIV—whom Trump claimed this week “thinks it’s just fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon”—when they meet in Rome today. (Washington Post)
Epstein, Epstein, Epstein: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick appeared before Congress in a closed-door hearing yesterday to discuss his ties to the deceased, disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. He called his decision to visit Epstein’s private island “inexplicable,” according to Democrats who attended. (Politico) A federal judge in New York ordered Epstein’s purported suicide note to be released last night. In it, Epstein appears to claim investigations against him turned up no evidence, says “It is a treat to be able to choose one’s time to say goodbye,” and writes, “Watcha want me to do — Bust out cryin!!” (NYT) The Epstein saga “continues to ripple through American institutions”—Joseph Sexton, a former New York Times editor, in 2019 reportedly campaigned against awarding Miami Herald reporter Julie K. Brown a Pulitzer Prize for her work uncovering Epstein’s crimes, saying her revelations had already been published. The Pulitzer board awarded her a “special citation” this year. (Semafor)
FB-ay-yi-yi: The FBI raided the Portsmouth, Virginia, office of L. Louise Lucas, a powerful state senator. Agents also searched a cannabis dispensary she owns next door. (AP) There’s little public information about why the feds descended, but in light of recent political prosecutions by the administration, it may be relevant to note that Lucas “was crucial to the recent battle over congressional redistricting” in the commonwealth. (NYT) In an amazing coincidence, a Fox News journalist was on hand to witness the raid. (TNR) Meanwhile, MS Now reported yesterday that the FBI is investigating Atlantic journalist Sarah Fitzpatrick, who reported last month that FBI Director Kash Patel‘s “excessive drinking and unexplained absences” had affected his work. The FBI denied any such investigation. (MS Now) As it happens, Fitzpatrick published a new article about Patel yesterday: The director travels with a “supply of personalized branded bourbon” that he gives out. (Atlantic)
Administration perambulation: A federal judge in Georgia allowed the DOJ to hold onto ballots it seized in January from Fulton County as part of Trump’s continuing campaign to discredit the 2020 election he lost to Joe Biden. (AP) The administration released a new counterterrorism strategy that lists “‘violent left-wing extremists’ as one of its top three focuses, alongside ‘narcoterrorists’ and ‘Islamist terrorists.’” (Politico) DOJ’s Civil Rights division accused UCLA’s medical school of discriminating against white and Asian applicants. (NYT) The Justice Department also began an investigation into Fairfax County prosecutor Steve Descano, a frequent focus of right-wing ire. (Washington Post) Trump asked a New York appeals court to block the $83 million defamation award he owes E. Jean Carroll, whom a jury found Trump sexually assaulted in a New York department store. Trump hopes the Supreme Court will reverse the verdict. (AP) The Air Force hopes to deliver a luxury version of Air Force One donated by Qatar by July 4, or perhaps even by Trump’s birthday. (Reuters)
Hidden Eats, by Ike Allen:
I’m continuing my DMV shawarma tour this week— this time in Howard County, by way of Lagos. Kozy Fawehinmi first opened Laud Shawarma in DC but has since moved her main operation to a Clarksville food hall. Chicken and beef shawarma wraps are actually a huge street food hit in Nigeria, where they were first served by Lebanese immigrants. To make your sandwich as Nigerian as possible, add a hot dog to your chicken shawarma (really!), order it spicy, and accompany it with a side of jollof rice. (12250 Clarksville Pike, Columbia, Maryland)
Take Hidden Eats with you! We’re proud to launch our Hidden Eats map today. This page will keep tabs on Ike’s eating adventures in the region and let you see if any of the out-of-the-way, mom-and-pop shops he spotlights each week are nearby. Get clicking here.
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• The aspiring reality show “The District” promises to show “messy hookups, drama, and social climbing” among DC’s non-political set. But plans for the show are a little bit messy, too.
Local news links:
Man down: The activist Guido Reichstadter descended from the Frederick Douglass Bridge yesterday after six days atop it. He’ll face charges including “failure to obey an officer and unlawful entry.” (NYT) Sorry, I can’t help myself: Reichstadter wasn’t my favorite activist, but he was definitely up there.
• Former Commanders owner Dan Snyder‘s River View estate will return yet again to the market later this month, with an asking price about $10 million less than originally proposed. (UrbanTurf)
• Juliana Peres Magalhães—the Brazilian au pair who helped her former boss, Brendan Banfield, plot to kill his wife and a stranger lured to his house—is taking calls from documentary producers about selling her story. (NBC4 Washington)
• The National Capital Planning Commission will consider Trump’s plan to paint the Eisenhower Executive Office Building white today. (AP)
• Plainclothes US Secret Service officers “routinely patrol near the White House and surrounding areas,” a retired agent said. (DC News Now)
• DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said she expects “some changes” in how District cops collect crime data in light of a spiraling scandal about statistics. (WUSA9)
• Police in Arlington released composite sketches of a man whose body they found in an abandoned house in 2024. They’re hoping someone will recognize him. (ARLnow)
• Golden Tempo, the horse that won the Kentucky Derby, won’t run in the Preakness, meaning that for the “sixth time in eight years the Preakness will happen with no chance of a Triple Crown on the line.” (AP)
• Virginia’s University of Mary Washington has brought in goats to help clear ivy. (Northern Virginia Magazine)
Thursday’s event picks:
• Alexander Heffner discusses political rhetoric at Planet Word.
• Join a community bike ride in National Landing.
• Celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month at the Capital Jewish Museum‘s after-hours event.
See more picks 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.
