Renovated DC Fountain’s Water Turns Brown, FIFA Fan Zone Watch Party Devolves into Brawl on the Mall, and Michael Cohen Says He and Trump Are Cool Now

Good morning. Mostly sunny today a slight chance of showers this morning and a high around 83. Showers and storms possible overnight with a low near 71. The Nationals host Houston again this evening. 

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I can’t stop listening to:

Tounds, “Connie, I’m High!” These hirsute South Carolinians play Pie Shop tonight with Fancy Gap. 

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:

Iran, again: President Trump said talks to land a peace deal with Iran are “over,” calling Iranian leaders “scum,””sick people,” and “vicious, violent people” this morning. Well, perhaps not over-over: He also said that negotiators could continue to meet, but that “I think they’re wasting their time.” (Washington Post) Oil prices rose after his comments. (AP) The President’s outburst followed the US and Iran again trading attacks after Iran fired on two commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz Monday night. (AP) The US revoked a license it granted Iran to sell oil. (WSJ) Meanwhile: A US strike early in Trump’s war against Iran that killed more than a hundred schoolchildren was based on outdated intelligence, sources say. They also aver that deep cuts made to the Pentagon’s Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response team contributed to the deadly mistake. (CNN)

Talk in Turkey: Trump is in Turkey for a NATO summit. Some highlights so far: He said the US would consider selling F-35 jets to Turkey, a move that some in Congress oppose because Turkey has purchased an anti-aircraft system from Russia and could use it to extract secrets about the planes’ stealth technology. (Washington Post) He claimed he had banned all trade with Spain. (Reuters) He’s back on the Greenland thing, too. (CNBC)

Polls positions: The Department of Justice sent letters to election officials, warning them about “criminal penalties” if the administration determines they haven’t followed election laws. (ABC News) DOJ said it will send monitors to Michigan during its primary next month. (Detroit News) A US judge in Atlanta “cast serious doubts on the Justice Department’s efforts to reinvestigate President Trump’s false claims that he was cheated out of victory in the 2020 election.” (NYT)

Administration perambulation: ICE officers in Houston fatally shot a man in Houston, claiming he wouldn’t cooperate at a traffic stop. Feds said Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was in the country without authorization; his family says he’d been in the US for more than three decades. (Washington Post) The White House pressured grocers to lower beef prices before July 4. (WSJ) The administration has shelved plans for a $20 bill that honors Harriet Tubman. (Spectrum News) A sentence for the ages: “A dispute among Cabinet officials over who could ride in fighter jets flying over Washington on July Fourth escalated to President Donald Trump, who gave the go-ahead to acting attorney general Todd Blanche despite prior objections from Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy.” (Washington Post) DOJ reached another settlement with Michael Flynn. (CNN) US senators John Thune and John Barrasso said they’d spoken to Senator Mitch McConnell amid speculation about his medical condition. (NYT) Unexpected: Michael Cohen says he and Trump are friends again and that “The ice between us, it didn’t just melt, it broke.” (Independent) Ireland’s embassy to the US “abruptly postponed an event to honor journalist Mark Halperin,” whom multiple people accused of sexual assault in 2017. (Playbook)

Recently on Washingtonian dot com:

• Feeling bad? Acting petty? DC’s summer of Trumpy malaise is grinding us down, Sylvie McNamara writes.

• A selfie in Little Gay Pub’s bathroom has become de rigueur for patrons—and now there’s an Instagram account dedicated to the phenomenon.

• The White House’s report on the Smithsonian goes in some pretty strange directions. We read the whole thing for you.

• We asked some defense attorneys about the feds’ case against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, whom it accuses of vandalism at the Reflecting Pool. They weren’t impressed.

• The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde has a new children’s book about bravery.

Local news links:

• The water in Meridian Hill Park’s recently renovated fountain has turned brown. City Cast reporter Tristan Espinoza spotted a condom floating in the murk. (City Cast)

• Virginians who lost subsidies to help pay for Obamacare plans can apply for new funding that aims to help cover the shortfalls. (Virginia Mercury)

• Cops in DC arrested Nolan Montcalm, a former AU student who they say spat at National Guard members. (DC News Now)

• A brawl broke out at the FIFA Fan Zone on the Mall Monday during the USMNT’s loss to Belgium. (ABC 7)

• Someone drove a car into a nail salon in Montgomery County. (MoCoShow)

• Someone is firing pellets, possibly BBs, around Arlington. A person and some property have been struck by the missiles. (ARLnow)

• Cops in Prince William County say a 30-year-old man exposed himself to people in the parking lot of SplashDown Waterpark. (DC News Now)

• Police in Waldorf say they found “two alligators, a caiman, a snake, an emu, dogs, cats and pigs” at the home of a man accused of assault. (Fox 5)

Wednesday’s event picks:

• Best-selling author (and my treasured former coworker) Marisa Kashino helps kick off the Yards’ Sundeck Summer Reads series.

• Catch an outdoor showing of the 2020 film version of “Hamilton” at the Wharf.

See more picks from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.

Andrew Beaujon

Senior editor

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.