Good morning. Cloudy with a high around 65 today. A low near 50 overnight. The Nationals wrap up a visit to Cincinnati 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:
Iron & Wine, “In Your Ocean.” I’m digging the Laurel Canyon vibes of Iron & Wine’s recent LP, “Hen’s Teeth,” which was actually recorded in Laurel Canyon, so maybe there’s something to terroir! Iron & Wine plays 9:30 tonight with Improvement Movement.
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:
The war: A ship near Fujairah, a port in the UAE, has reportedly been seized and seen heading toward Iranian waters. (AP) Negotiations to end the war are at a stalemate. President Trump is in Beijing today. He told reporters, “We have Iran very much under control.” (NYT) Nevertheless, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday that the US planned to press China “to play a more active role in getting Iran to walk away from what they’re doing now and trying to do now in the Persian Gulf.” (Reuters) Beijing has called the war Trump started ten weeks ago “illegal.” A new US intelligence analysis found that “China is exploiting the war in Iran to maximize its advantage over the United States across military, economic, diplomatic and other fields.” (Washington Post)
Meanwhile, at home: The national average price for a gallon of gas rose to $4.534. (AAA) Trump’s recent remark that he doesn’t “think about Americans’ financial situation” as the war raises prices at home highlights his quandary: He “currently has no clear way to square his desire to end the war on his terms with the need to rein in inflation and keep the stock market humming in an election year.” (Axios) Senate Democrats’ seventh attempt to assert congressional control over the war failed, though Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska crossed the aisle to vote with Dems, joining two other Republicans. Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voted with Republicans. (NYT)
Blue state blues: Vice President JD Vance said the US would withhold $1.3 billion in Medicaid reimbursements to California over concerns about fraud. CMS administrator Mehmet Oz said the feds would also impose a “six-month moratorium on new Medicare enrollment for hospices and home health agencies.” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the Golden State was being “targeted solely for political reasons.” (LAT) Vance’s gambit is “similar to the one the administration took in February suspending Medicaid payments to Minnesota.” (NBC News) The money is “a small portion of California’s total federal Medicaid funding.” (Politico) Meanwhile: An FBI agent visited a Wisconsin election official’s home as Trump’s probe of the 2020 election he lost to Joe Biden continues. (NBC News) Bonus read: A very SoCal scandal. The trailer where LA mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt claims to live “is sitting lonely” while Pratt, citing security concerns, stays at the swanky Hotel Bel-Air. (TMZ)
Administration perambulation: The Department of Justice filed a suit last night against the DC Bar, which recommended the disbarment of Jeffrey Clark, who aided Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election. (Washington Post) Trump may issue 250 pardons as part of a celebration of the US’s 250th birthday this summer. (WSJ) The administration’s decision to allow tobacco companies to sell flavored vapes followed intense lobbying by the tobacco industry. (NYT) Rich Danker, Health Secretary RFK Jr.‘s spokesperson, resigned over the policy. (Notus) USDA employees sued over an agency-wide Easter message from Secretary Brooke Rollins that celebrated her Christian faith. A USDA spokesperson said the agency would “keep the plaintiffs in our prayers during this process.” (Politico) William Paul, son of US Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, “drunkenly hurled antisemitic insults at Republican Rep. Mike Lawler at a Capitol Hill bar and restaurant on Tuesday evening.” William Paul later said he would seek help for a “drinking problem.” (Notus) Some Miami residents have sued Trump and Florida officials over the President’s planned library/skyscraper/hotel. (Washington Post) Multiple sources say FBI Director Kash Patel is manipulating statistics to support his claims of increased arrests, including of people on the “Ten Most Wanted” list. (MS Now) US Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland posted the results of an alcohol-abuse test he took after a confrontation with Patel on the Hill and challenged Patel to do the same. (Notus)
Hidden Eats, by Ike Allen:
Haitian restaurants in the DC area have always been few and far between, so I was excited to hear about two new openings this year. On the high end, Itiyah is set to start serving a Haitian tasting menu in Shaw this summer. But there’s also Chez Aviole, a more traditional place that’s been chugging along just over the Silver Spring border since January. Whether you try the crispy pork griot, poached red snapper, or legim (vegetable stew), make sure to swap out the regular rice for diri djon djon, Haiti’s signature rice and peas made with an earthy dried mushroom powder. As for the two other sides—addictive Haitian-style fried plantains and fiery cabbage pikliz—you don’t have a choice. They come with every dish, thankfully. (7912 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring)
Take Hidden Eats with you! Our new map will show you which out-of-the-way mom-and-pop eateries Ike has highlighted near you. It’s a technological marvel, I tell you.
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
First in Washingtonian: The installation of “SHELTER,” a new commissioned work by the Brooklyn artist KAWS, is under way at the Hirshhorn Museum’s Sculpture Garden.
• “Shear Madness” will close when the Kennedy Center shuts down this summer. Will the zany comedy return?
• Vietnamese food fans are aflutter now that Phở Thìn, a Hanoi-based chain with its own signature style of northern-style phở, has opened in Falls Church.
• Employees of the Cleveland Park paint-your-own-pottery studio All Fired Up have voted to unionize.
• When Mary Todd Lincoln came to Washington: An excerpt from Lois Romano‘s new book about the first lady.
• If you’re a Jewish Washingtonian with some history in the area and a storage unit full of memories, the Capital Jewish Museum’s collections curator wants to hear from you.
• The history of DC’s space-age Intelsat building.
Local news links:
• The administration planned to use a contract for work at Lafayette Square to get work moving quickly on Trump’s planned Triumphal Arch, which is miles away from the White House. (Washington Post)
• A DC judge ordered Kenneth Brewer Sr., the former head of the H Street Community Development Corporation, to repay $1.225 million authorities say he diverted for his own benefit. (WTOP)
• A 15-year-old DC boy appeared in court yesterday. He’s accused of killing Kenzell Locust, another DC teen, in a parking lot shootout last month. (WUSA9)
• Police arrested a teenager at Bethesda’s Walt Whitman High School after, they say, he brought a loaded handgun to school. (NBC4 Washington)
• Police in Lorton say someone “stole a delivery vehicle and crashed it into several cars” yesterday. (DC News Now)
• A car rolled off the George Washington Parkway and down an embankment last night. (ARLnow)
• The region’s real estate market trended upward last month. (Axios D.C.)
• A Virginia woman found a kidney donor after posting about her need on Facebook. (NBC4 Washington)
• Maryland gubernatorial candidate Ed Hale Sr. has floated a plan to rent out the governor’s mansion for events and overnight stays. (Maryland Matters)
• The Commanders will play Indianapolis in London this October. (DC News Now)
• “Yesterday, while waiting for a court at Banneker, I overheard a group shaming pickleball players.” (PoPville)
Thursday’s event picks:
• The Washington National Opera’s production of “West Side Story” opens at Strathmore.
• The new exhibition “In Pursuit of Life, Liberty, and Happiness” opens at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
• Spring Night Market is back at Union Market.
See lots 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.
