Good morning. Sunny today and a bit less humid, with a high of around 91 in the afternoon. The Mystics host the Toronto Tempo at CareFirst Arena this evening. D.C. United hosts the New England Revolution at Audi Field tonight. The Nationals are at the Rangers again tonight.
🌎 How well do you know the District? Play our new geography game and test your local knowledge. 📫 Ike Allen here, filling in for Andrew. You can find my food coverage on Instagram and there’s a link to my email address below. This roundup is available as a morning email newsletter. Sign up here.
I can’t stop listening to:
Diana Ross, “Missing You.” A smooth 1984 tribute to DC native Marvin Gaye, who had just been murdered. Ross, the octogenarian soul icon, plays Wolf Trap tonight.
Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out:
The war: The Pentagon might reduce US military presence in the Gulf after the war by not rebuilding bases that have been struck by Iran. (Washington Post) Oil prices rose some more after Trump ruled out any talks with Iran. (Semafor) The president posted a picture on Truth Social labeling the Strait of Hormuz a “new” US territory. (ABC) Meanwhile, traffic on the route slowed even more, with only six vessels passing through on Tuesday. (Reuters) The United Arab Emirates reported that two Iranian missiles launched toward the country fell offshore. (CNN)
Trump’s picks flounder: Two candidates backed by Trump, Rep. Cory Mills and Catalina Lauf, lost their congressional primaries last night in Florida, as Democratic Socialist Angie Nixon won a major upset over Alex Vindman in the Democratic Senate primary. (Politico) Wyoming state Sen. Eric Barlow beat a Trump-backed candidate in the Wyoming gubernatorial primary. (Washington Post) Meanwhile, gasps and boos were heard in the opera house of Newberry, South Carolina when Senator Darline Graham, who was appointed to serve out the term of her late brother Lindsey, said she was “not that informed on national security” when asked about Taiwan during the only GOP runoff debate. (NYT)
Bait and switch and switch: A now-familiar routine played out late last night as Trump announced he was delaying planned 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian imports, hours before they were set to take effect. (AP) Trump wrote that the US and Canada “have a DEAL,” but Canadian prime minister Mark Carney said “there is important work still to be done.” (NYT)
Administration perambulation: ABC sued Brendan Carr‘s Federal Communications Commission over its review of the company’s licenses, claiming retaliation for its coverage of the Trump administration. (Politico) A Justice Department whistleblower says the antisemitism investigations into Harvard, Brown, and Columbia were politically motivated and turned up little to no evidence of systemic problems. (Washington Post) The US Forest Service is trying to rescind a 25-year-old rule that protects 59 million acres of undeveloped forest from logging, mining, and road construction. (NBC) Trump plans to nominate Heidi Overton, a MAHA-aligned White House official, to be the next commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. (NYT) Just eight new Trump-appointed judges are responsible for a large share of the rulings in favor of ICE’s unprecedented detention policy. (Politico) Trump is allowed to test out white paint on the Eisenhower Building, a federal judge ruled. (AP)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• The National Symphony Orchestra announced its long-delayed schedule for the 2026–27 season. It includes venues all over town, but no Kennedy Center.
• The very late announcement could spell trouble for the NSO, depressing ticket sales and creating confusion for would-be concertgoers.
• The latest Metro merch pop-up, with letterman jackets, sweat sets, and back-to-school items, drew a line down the block yesterday. It’s on until September 4.
• Some Fredericksburg locals restored and re-opened Goolrick’s, a 157-year-old soda fountain that is the longest-running such establishment in the country.
Local news links:
• Two DC-area schools, School Without Walls in DC and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax County, made it onto US News and World Report’s top 10 high schools in America. (WTOP)
• The board of Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority will vote today on funding the $22 billion plan to build new concourses and tunnels at Dulles— and to do away with the people movers. (WBJ)
• Arrest warrants went out for six DC police employees accused of collecting more than $441,000 in overtime they never worked. (City Cast DC)
• A Fairfax County man who was found not guilty by reason of insanity in a 2019 killing obtained a passport while on leave from a psychiatric hospital and fled to Tajikistan. (WJLA)
Wednesday’s event picks:
• The musical version of “The Notebook” opens at National Theatre.
• Washington Improv Theater’s Improvapalooza opens at Studio Theatre.
See more picks from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.
Ike Allen covers politics, food, culture, and transportation in DC and writes the monthly Hidden Eats column for the magazine. He grew up in DC.
