Good morning. Partly sunny with a high around 87 and noticeably lower humidity than yesterday. Showers are likely overnight, with a low near 72. The Nats visit the Phillies this evening.
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I can’t stop listening to:
Graham Nash, “Immigration Man.” The CSNY legend plays the second of two nights at the Birchmere this evening, promising a career-spanning set.
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 cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz was struck overnight. (AP) President Trump claimed the US and Iran were engaged in peace talks, but Iran contradicted him and said it was in talks only with Oman, its neighbor across the waterway. (WSJ) Iran and Oman are closing in on a deal that would effectively hand control of the strait to Tehran. The countries plan to split a “service fee” they’ll charge ships transiting the waterway. Trump and US leaders including Vice President JD Vance had claimed Iran would negotiate an end to its nuclear program within 60 days of an agreement signed in June; as that deadline approaches, “some officials doubt there will be a nuclear accord.” (NYT) Iran hopes to “convince the United States and its allies that containing the crisis is more costly than accommodating Iran’s demands over the Strait of Hormuz.” (Reuters)
Pirro dark thirty: Jeanine Pirro appears to have squeaked through a flare-up with Trump, who said she “choked” and “folded like an umbrella” when the US Attorney’s office she leads in DC dropped a thin vandalism case it had mounted against David Hearn, an Olympic canoeist it accused of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool. The two met at the White House, and Pirro emerged still employed. (NYT) Pirro didn’t just throw in the towel on prosecuting Hearn—her office also dropped three other Reflecting Pool-related vandalism cases it was trying to make. (Washingtonian) Trump had mulled canning Pirro before the meeting. (CNN)
Meanwhile, back at the Blanche: Todd Blanche‘s eventful nomination to be Trump’s new attorney general is likely to clear a major hurdle this morning when the Senate Judiciary Committee votes on whether to advance it to the full chamber. US Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis said they were satisfied with assurances that the White House wouldn’t move ahead with a $1.8 billion slush fund for Trump allies and a narrowing of an agreement that protects Trump and his family from IRS audits. But other GOP senators could still throw a spanner in the works. (Politico) In fact, the fund could be resurrected. (NBC News) White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and James Braid, Trump’s adviser for legislative affairs, were “deeply involved” in crafting Blanche’s order to rescind the fund. (CNN) Trump will enjoy unprecedented immunity from IRS oversight thanks to the deal that remains. (NYT)
But wait, there’s more: Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed suit against the Treasury Department yesterday, claiming in a press release that the agency was “illegally withholding information about who is receiving settlement money” from the fund. (CREW) And Blanche told religious leaders on a call last week that “he was preparing to take action to roll back abortion access nationwide.” (Politico)
Administration perambulation: Remember Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy‘s planned TV show about a family road trip? Good for you, because no one involved seems to. (Bulwark) Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, a Salvadoran man held at ICE’s Newark, New Jersey, detention center, has died. He’s the second detainee at Delaney Hall to die in the last year. (NYT) The Department of Homeland Security has spent millions hiring private contractors to root out criticisms of ICE on Reddit and social media sites. (WSJ) The State Department plans to close a US embassy in Grenada; consulates in Canada, Indonesia, and Japan; and a mission in Cameroon in what it says is a downsizing. (Reuters) Capital One, which Trump is suing over the closure of his accounts there following his supporters’ violent takeover of the US Capitol in January 2021, said in a court filing that it closed the accounts “for anti-money laundering reasons.” (ABC News) Trump phoned US Representative Max Miller of Ohio to tell him that “things aren’t looking good” for his reelection campaign. Miller’s former wife, Emily Moreno—daughter to US Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio—has accused him of abuse, which he denies. (Axios) Trump claimed recreational activities at Bears Ears National Monument were nonexistent when he sharply reduced its size. But the government’s own documents say otherwise. (NYT)
Take in a meteor shower, by Daniella Byck:
A day trip is fun, but what about a night trip? The Perseids meteor shower—a stunning display of careening light—peaks the night of August 12 into the early hours of August 13. In general, if you’re looking for good stargazing, I recommend checking out the Dark Sky Places map that highlights locations with minimal light pollution. An hour out of DC, Sky Meadows State Park in Delaplane, Virginia, is an International Dark Sky Park. Most of the grounds close at dusk, and campsites are already booked for that night, but there is a spot you can go until 2 AM. Turner Pond is the park’s designated area for self-guided stargazing, with its own parking lot ($10 per car) plus a field for taking in starry nights.
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• A list of defense-tech leaders shaping what national security will look like in the years to come.
• It’s summer-spritz season. Here are 13 places to cool down.
• Every month, we negotiate travel deals for our readers. Here are this month’s offers.
Local news links:
• Virginia voters will head to the polls today for primary elections. (WTOP)
• Democrats in the Maryland legislature advanced plans that could redistrict US Representative Andy Harris out of a seat. (AP)
• “Sandwich Guy” Sean Dunn said he had to move out of the DC area after the feds’ frivolous prosecution of him failed. Keith Alexander looks at others whose lives were swept up in Trump’s takeover of DC’s police force last year. (Bloomberg Law)
• A National Park Service analysis says Trump’s planned Triumphal Arch near Arlington Cemetery would “intrude on views at dozens of historic sites” including the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the Jefferson Memorial. (NYT)
• Alex Eala won the women’s title at the Mubadala DC Open yesterday. (ESPN) Taylor Fritz prevailed in the men’s competition. (ATP)
• Police in Prince William County say a Woodbridge man brandished a gun and impersonated a police officer in separate incidents last month. (WTOP)
• The coach of a local girls’ flag-football team says she and her players were “humiliated” by a Sun Country Airlines flight attendant when she was removed from a flight during a planned trip home Monday after a tournament in Iowa. (WUSA9)
• Virginia’s sales-tax holiday approaches. Shoppers can save money on some school supplies and clothing—and emergency preparedness items like generators and chainsaws. (VPM)
• Who bought Jeffrey Veatch‘s mansion on the Potomac near Mount Vernon? Someone paid $15.9 million for the view, but the buyer hasn’t been named publicly. (WBJ)
• The planned Freedom 250 Grand Prix in DC will now cover 147 laps so it’s 250 miles long. (Motorsport.com)
Tuesday’s event picks:
• My cherished former coworker Mimi Montgomery discusses her new book, “Murder Bites,” with Kate Myers this evening at East City Bookshop.
• Bao Li is now five. Celebrate the panda’s birthday this morning at Smithsonian’s National Zoo.
• There’ll be a “Rowdy Screening” of “Wuthering Heights” at the Chevy Chase Library.
See more picks for this week 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.
