Good morning. Patchy fog early, then sunny with a high around 87. A low near 67 overnight. The Nationals begin a three-day visit to Boston tonight. 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:
Johnny Cash, “Singin’ in Viet Nam Talkin’ Blues.” I’m going to do something a little different this week and instead of choosing songs that correspond with concerts in the region, I’ll instead highlight a few tunes about the USA that have been on my mind lately. This number is about Cash and June Carter’s 1969 visit to American troops at Long Binh Post, a “little trip into livin’ hell” that shook Cash’s faith in US leadership—but not his patriotism.
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: Depending on who you listen to, Iran and the US are done with skirmishes for the moment. A “senior U.S. official” said the two sides agreed to knock it off while they work on a larger peace deal. (Axios) But an Iranian official says his country canceled participation in some technical talks yesterday. (NOTUS) Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, asserted yesterday that Iran has full control over the Strait of Hormuz, contradicting claims to the contrary by US officials, including President Trump. (WSJ) Iranian leaders may feel they can extract concessions from the US, which is trying to extract itself from the unpopular war Trump started in February, by demonstrating their mastery of the waterway. (NYT)
It’s a Mall world after all: Images of extortionately priced concessions and sparse crowds at the Trumpy Great American State Fair on the National Mall were easy to find on social media over the weekend, even as it’s made access to the Mall incredibly confusing. It’s safe to say the event has experienced some issues. Our reporter visited Thursday and found the fair “shockingly boring.” (Washingtonian) A privately funded booth that organizers tapped to represent North Carolina after the state declined to send a delegation had to remove an image of a Confederate flag over the weekend. (Washington Post) Signifiers of conservative culture are common. (NYT) Trump’s partisan takeover of semiquincentennial celebrations has some in Congress ruing what might have been. (NOTUS) Trump’s claims that no one left his campaign-style rally at the fair’s opening last week are easy to disprove—and part of a pattern with him. (CNN) Meanwhile: Trump said work on his next big DC project, a “sweeping overhaul of East Potomac Golf Links,” will begin in September. (Washington Post)
Administration perambulation: The US Supreme Court should finish its term this week and is likely to issue rulings in big cases like Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship via executive order and his attempt to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook, as well as a case regarding transgender people playing on sports teams. Tensions between the justices are showing. (NYT) Meanwhile, the court is building a much larger police force than it currently has. (Politico) Data released Friday showed that five million Americans dropped Obamacare coverage after the GOP allowed Covid-era subsidies to expire. (NPR) Trump nominated Lance Schroyer, a former state trooper in Oklahoma, to head ICE. The agency hasn’t had a Senate-confirmed director since early 2017. The Department of Homeland Security said Schroyer had “decades of experience in de-escalation.” (Washington Post) House Speaker Mike Johnson said he’d send a bipartisan housing bill to Trump today. The President has threatened not to sign it, the latest in a so-far-unsuccessful campaign to muscle voting legislation through Congress. (Politico) The BBC, which Trump is suing for $10 billion, is reportedly demanding documents about his actions and activities on January 6 during discovery. (Daily Beast) US Senator Chris Coons of Delaware was injured in a car crash Sunday. He says he’s okay. (New York Post)
The Best Thing I Ate Last Week, by Ann Limpert:
There’s a lot to love at fast-casual Taiwanese spot Bao Bei, from crunchy fried chicken to pork-chop-topped rice bowls to a room decked out with viral dumpling squishies and cool black-and-white murals. But the dish that has me running back is the one owner Kevin Hsieh started with when he launched his business as a ghost kitchen during the pandemic: fluffy housemade bao buns filled with soy-braised pork belly, plus a flavor riot of toppings including sour mustard, peanut sugar, and lots of cilantro. (12015 Rockville Pike, Rockville.)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Many of the grungy, scammy food trucks parked by the National Mall are unlicensed, and some of them are unsanitary. So why can’t anyone seem to do anything about them? Jessica Sidman has a fascinating look at what the US Park Police call an “organized crime” problem operating in plain sight.
• Buffalo & Bergen used a clunky image its owner made with ChatGPT in a Father’s Day post. Ridicule and vitriol followed—a sign of how local businesses can get swept into the larger debate about AI.
• The Oak Room and Bernadette’s have opened in Georgetown. The former is meant to feel like it’s been there for a century; the latter is a take on a post-war European supper club.
• The NFL announced specifics about its next draft, which will be held in DC next April.
• The Fourth is upon us! Here’s how area bars and restaurants will celebrate the holiday, plus:
🇺🇸 How to watch fireworks from the water, despite everything.
🇺🇸 Where to watch fireworks away from the Mall, as well as guide to celebrations away from the crowds in DC.
• Later next month, a digital art display by Refik Anadol will be projected onto an unusual canvas: The Smithsonian Castle.
Local news links:
• Big news in local theater: Arena Stage artistic director Hana Sharif left the theater, apparently under pressure. Expect to hear more about this one. (NYT)
• It is about to get very, very hot. (Capital Weather)
• Trump lashed out at Janeese Lewis George online, calling DC’s likely next mayor a “Communist adherent” and saying he’d meet with her nonetheless. Lewis George noted that Trump mischaracterized many of her positions and said she looked forward to meeting with him. (Washington Post)
• A judge in rural Lancaster County, Virginia, has blocked the commonwealth’s new ban on s0-called assault weapons. Attorney General Jay Jones says the state will appeal. (Washington Post) Related: Here’s a look at some of the new laws and regulations scheduled to take effect in Virginia on Wednesday. (WUSA9)
• The District settled a case brought by Sam O’Hara, who was arrested and cuffed last September for following National Guard troops around town while playing the “Imperial March” from “Star Wars.” (NBC News)
• Will Jawando will be the Democratic nominee for Montgomery County executive. (MoCoShow)
• The tarp was still up on the Kennedy Center last night when Bill Maher received the Mark Twain Prize. (NBC4 Washington)
• Fare-evasion cases in DC are routinely thrown out. It’s a big mess. (NOTUS)
• Police in Prince George’s County say they found a man’s body in a stream in Mount Rainier. (Fox 5)
• A woman in Arlington was hospitalized after young kids dropped a rock on her head from atop a building. (DC News Now)
• Trump wants 47 trees—no fewer, no more—in Lafayette Square to commemorate his second term. He’s been counting. He likes maples. (Washington Post)
• Arlington native Anna Vocino will voice Mrs. Potato Head in “Toy Story 5.” No pressure, but the role originally belonged to the late Estelle Harris. (WTOP)
• The Prince of Petworth can finally go to town on some Wendy’s in the neighborhood that gave him his nickname. (PoPville)
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.
