Good morning. Hot and smoky today with a high around 92. A Code Red air quality alert is in effect—stay indoors with AC on if you’re able to. A low near 74 overnight.
Sports this weekend: The Nationals return from the All-Star break with a visit to the Athletics Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Loudoun United FC host the Tampa Bay Rowdies at Segra Field Saturday. The Mystics visit the Golden State Valkyries Saturday. The Washington Freedom face the Texas Super Kings Saturday and MI New York Sunday; both matches are in Grand Prairie, Texas. The Washington Spirit visit Boston Legacy FC Sunday.
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I can’t stop listening to:
Teen Cobra, “He’s Comin’.” The longest song on the new release by this self-described “Husband and wife lo-fi punk duo from D.C.” clocks in at just over a minute, so arrive on time when they play Rhizome Sunday with Vesuvian, Sexfaces, and the Armors.
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: Houthi rebels in Yemen are prepared to close the Bab el-Mandeb strait if the US bombs power infrastructure in Iran. The strait controls access to the Red Sea, to which Saudi Arabia and other oil producers have shifted much shipping since Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz. (Reuters) Iran said the US had struck “power infrastructure” yesterday. US forces also hit highway and rail bridges near a major Iranian port. President Trump insisted the US was “winning big in Iran.” He started this conflict in February. (AP) Trump believes the strikes “will throttle the regime’s economy and convince it to release its hold on the Strait of Hormuz.” Tehran appears to see the situation differently. (WSJ)
Once more unto the speech: The White House promised bombshells about election security during Trump’s prime-time speech last night. But instead the President “described ‘vulnerabilities’ in election infrastructure, without alleging that the weaknesses were exploited.” (Washington Post) Trump complained about his loss in 2020 but “did not raise doubts about his election wins in 2016 or 2024.” (AP) Neither ABC, CNN, nor NBC carried the speech on their main broadcast platforms. Some of ABC and NBC’s affiliates owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group did. Trump said during his speech that ABC and NBC should lose their broadcasting licenses. (THR) “The exercise underscored how much Mr. Trump in his second term has come to be obsessed with relitigating the 2020 election and finding ways to cast doubt on the 2026 election.” (NYT)
The new ICE storm: The ICE agent who shot and killed Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Maine this week was identified by his ex-wife as David Michael Brouillette. (Portland Press Herald) Brouillette has “a history of terrifying and violent behavior,” according to relatives. (AP) The shooting once again raises questions about ICE’s hiring spree under Trump. (Washington Post) Meanwhile: The administration “revived a policy that gives immigration officers wide authority to deny green cards to people they deem likely to rely on public assistance.” (NYT) And the State Department is toying with the idea of introducing a $100,000 bond for some green card seekers—a way to “limit immigration by foreigners of limited means.” (WSJ)
Administration perambulation: A new Washington Post-Ipsos poll is the first “where significantly more than half of Trump approvers support him only ‘somewhat,’ rather than strongly.” Trump and his handling of the economy remain broadly unpopular among Americans as a whole, and 67 percent of people polled said his war in Iran wasn’t worth fighting. (Washington Post) Trump’s Truth Social network will sell banks and traders faster access to the President’s potentially market-moving posts. (NBC News) Gabriel Perez, who has operated Trump’s teleprompter for a decade, “is in talks with federal regulators to settle allegations he used his inside knowledge of the president’s speeches to win more than $100,000.” (ABC News) Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche met with victims of the deceased, disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein after US Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina demanded he do so in confirmation hearings for the permanent job. Blanche “repeatedly interrupted us and could not commit to anything that would demonstrate good faith,” one survivor said. (Politico) Federal authorities linked the cyclosporiasis outbreak to a lettuce supplier to Taco Bell in several states. The Washington Post has identified the supplier as Taylor Farms. (Washington Post)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Haile Gerima reflects on how his film “Sankofa” prompted a cultural hub by the same name in DC.
• A look ahead at the Mubadala DC Open, which returns next week.
• Fun stuff to do with the kids this summer.
• It’s been a tough year for local peach growers, but a few farms this summer still offer pick-your-own fruit.
• Alexandria real estate agent Allison Goodhart DuShuttle describes her perfect day in Old Town.
Local news links:
Marble cinematic universe: We begin with news from Trump’s plans to remake DC. ¶ The Commission of Fine Arts is on board with Trump’s plans to install permanent fencing around Lafayette Square near the White House—but some members “suggested that some of the design ideas presented were unnecessarily ornate.” ¶ Waterproofing experts identified “errors in the application process” of the Reflecting Pool’s lining—not vandalism, as Trump claimed—as the reason for its botched renovation. ¶ The National Park Service is soliciting comments on Trump’s plan to build a Triumphal Arch near Arlington Cemetery.
• The CFA also broadly approved the Commanders’ plans for a new stadium but asked for some revisions. (WUSA9)
• The Park Service removed rare documents from the Lincoln Memorial’s undercroft that “were exposed to unsafe temperatures.” (Washington Post) NPS will tear down the Foundry Branch Trestle Bridge at the southern end of the Glover Archbold Trail. (WUSA9)
• The DC region has lost more than 63,000 federal jobs since Trump’s second term began. (Axios D.C.)
• Arlington prosecutors in the news: Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti visited Capitol Hill yesterday for a closed-door deposition prompted by Republicans’ criticisms of her tenure. (NBC4 Washington) And Trump named Theo Stamos, who held Dehghani-Tafti’s job before she lost it in a Democratic primary in 2019, to be the acting US Attorney in Virginia’s Eastern District. (ARLnow)
• US Representative James Comer of Kentucky, whose committee summoned Dehghani-Tafti, introduced a bill that would require congressional approval for DC tax hikes. The measure faces long odds. (NOTUS)
• Montgomery County police are looking for someone accused of stabbing a patron in the bathroom of a Silver Spring restaurant named the Angry Jerk. (DC News Now)
• Police in Charles County say a DC woman tried to use a dead person’s ID to buy a Mercedes. (Fox 5)
• Actors were injured during a performance earlier this week of Arena Stage’s TLC musical, “CrazySexyCool.” (City Cast DC)
• Chris Hacopian drove from his home in Potomac to sign a contract with the Washington Nationals. (WTOP)
Weekend event picks:
Friday: The Smithsonian Castle’s exterior will light up tonight and tomorrow with “Smithsonian Dreams: Castle Illuminations,” a new work by the artist Refik Anadol.
Saturday: The Lotus and Lily Festival opens a two-day run at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens.
Sunday: It’s your last chance to see “Beetlejuice” at the National Theatre.
See 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.
