Good morning. Sunny with a high around 91 today. A low near 71 overnight.
Sports this weekend: The Mystics host the Dallas Wings at Carefirst Arena tonight. The Nationals visit Atlanta tonight, Saturday, and Sunday. D.C. United host Nashville SC Saturday. Loudoun United FC host Hartford Athletic Saturday at Segra Field. The Washington Spirit host the San Diego Wave Sunday.
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I can’t stop listening to:
Mon Laferte, “Algo Es Mejor.” The terrific Chilean-Mexican artist plays the Warner 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:
The war: Iran claimed to have launched drone attacks against US military assets in Kuwait. The US has not yet acknowledged any such strikes. (NYT) Trump will meet with his cabinet today at Camp David to discuss the stalemated war. (MS Now) Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps operates an elaborate online gambling network that allows it to dodge sanctions to the tune of $4 billion since last May. (Reuters) US and state officials “believe a cyberattack this week on dozens of municipal water systems in Minnesota was probably the work of Iranian hackers.” (NYT) British police said they were seeking extradition of a man arrested in Cyprus and suspected of spying for Iran there. (AP)
At home: US economic growth stalled in the second quarter due to the war. (NYT) The Senate once again narrowly defeated a war-powers resolution proposed by Democrats yesterday. (Roll Call) Dems view the votes as “opportunities to force G.O.P. senators to defend a war that has become more difficult to sell to voters.” (NYT) How nice for them: Oil companies are expected to reap record profits from prices that have rocketed during the five-month-old US-Iran war. (AP)
Another ceasefire deal: President Trump claimed on his social media site yesterday that his Board of Peace (remember that thing?) had struck a deal with Hamas to disarm in Gaza. (NYT) Details are few; officials “gave an extremely optimistic assessment of the agreement that laid out a scenario very similar to the one described by Trump and his top aides” when Trump formed the board, which he chairs. (AP)
Audit-immunity disorder: Trump suggested he might ice his nomination of Todd Blanche to be attorney general until two Republican senators who are holding it up leave office next year. (Washington Post) At issue are modifications to an agreement that Trump and his family would be shielded from IRS audits, a product of the Justice Department’s settlement of Trump’s suit against the IRS. (AP) GOP lawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee yesterday thwarted a Democratic effort that would have forbidden the government to implement the audit plan. (Politico) The President “made it a lot harder for himself to get his agenda through” the Senate “by creating Republican free agents” like John Cornyn of Texas, one of the senators holding up Blanche’s nomination. Trump engineered Cornyn’s eventual exit from the Senate by endorsing his opponent in a primary earlier this year. (Punchbowl News) In this matter, Cornyn has “fashioned himself not as a scorned outcast seeking retribution but rather as a shield for other Republicans who share his concerns.” (NYT) Also, Senate leaders may doink a proposed administration rule that would allow political appointees to approve grants to states. (Politico)
Rillettes de roadkill? Health Secretary RFK Jr. debuted an online cooking show he’ll host alongside chefs including Andrew Gruel and Robert Irvine. (USA Today) Here’s the first episode. (HHS)
Administration perambulation: The President “has been demanding large checks from companies for a range of political and legacy projects.” Firms like Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon have answered his call. (WSJ) The Commerce Department “quietly announced” on Wednesday that it had acquired stakes in seven companies. (Hill) Elon Musk is planning to spend more than $100 million to boost Republicans in this fall’s midterm elections. (NYT) Two more federal appeals courts ruled against the administration’s mass-detention policy for immigrants. (Politico) Trump hopes to revive his lawsuit against Hillary Clinton by way of the US Supreme Court. (MS Now) The Department of Defense may “abolish civilian tenure and overhaul course offerings at the military service academies.” (CBS News) A State Department presentation at a conference in Brazil “mislabeled every country” in Africa. (Reuters) The State Department will make passports that display Trump’s image available in offices outside DC, the only place they’ve been available so far. (AP)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Foo Fighters at Nationals Park, the Phillips Collection’s new exhibition of local artists, and “The Notebook” at National Theatre: Here’s a look ahead at August’s culture offerings.
• Photos from our Best of Washington event.
Local news links:
An update on Trump’s efforts to remake DC: The Kennedy Center ended public tours following a NYT article about a tour guide who led groups through the zombie-fied arts complex. (NYT) The State Department organized an exhibit of patriotic art at DC’s Art Museum of the Americas. No “historians or professional curators collaborated on the exhibition.” (NYT) Blindingly regilded statues on Memorial Bridge surprised drivers and pedestrians yesterday. (WTOP) A judge in DC consolidated four cases that involve the Reflecting Pool. (Ryan Reilly/Bluesky)
• Pornhub asked Virginia officials to rethink an age-restriction law that led it to block users in the commonwealth. (Axios Richmond)
• Fort Myer Construction will pay $450,000 to settle a lawsuit from DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb that accused the company of polluting a DC stream. (WUSA9)
• Ventana Productions, a DC-based company that did work for the US Census Bureau, will pay $50,000 to settle accusations that it bought food at Dunkin’ Donuts, Joe Theismann’s Restaurant, and Corner Bakery and claimed the funds had gone toward purchasing products like hard drives. (WUSA9)
• A fascinating analysis of the District’s changing landscape for streateries shows that “nearly half of current and potential streateries are now downtown and in Georgetown.” (City Cast DC)
• A lobbyist for DoorDash says the company’s support of a measure that would require Congress to sign off on tax increases passed by DC’s elected officials doesn’t mean that it doesn’t support Home Rule. (WUSA9)
• Montgomery County officials said they’d recovered the body of a person who went swimming in the Potomac near Great Falls. (NBC4 Washington)
• Even if you haven’t seen “The Odyssey” yet, you may enjoy this Bronze Age headline: “Man and three goats arrive in Arlington after extensive journey by foot.” (ARLnow)
Weekend event picks:
Friday: Otakon, a convention that celebrates Asian pop culture, kicks off a three-day run at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.
Saturday: More than 50 authors will attend today’s Black Books Matter Fest in National Harbor.
Sunday: Reggaeton megastar Karol G plays Northwest Stadium.
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.
