Good morning. Mostly sunny with a high around 89 today. A low near 73 overnight. D.C. United hosts the Columbus Crew at Audi Field this evening. The Washington Nationals visit San Diego this afternoon.
🌎 How well do you know the District? Play our new geography game and test your local knowledge. 📫 You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @abeaujon.87 on Signal, 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:
Nice Strong Arm, “Desert Beauty Bloom.” Dude, these guys totally stayed at my house one time when I was in college. The reunited Nice Strong Arm play the Quarry House Tavern tonight with Bed Maker and Wakefield High School Hall of Fame member Mark Robinson.
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: The US destroyed five Iranian oil tankers yesterday. (WSJ) Tehran then launched strikes against American targets in Jordan. (AP) Iran is looking to escalate the six-month-old war President Trump started in February as American pressure on its economy grows and midterm elections approach in the US. (NYT) Oil prices topped $100 a barrel for the first time since July. (Reuters)
Great smite north: Trump banned imports of a long list of Canadian alcohol, dairy products, and motorcycles Tuesday. The moves follow retaliatory Canadian tariffs after the White House imposed tariffs on the US’s largest trading partner last month. (Politico) Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney warned Canadians yesterday that the trade war will cause them economic pain. (BBC News) Support for Carney’s moves remains strong north of the border, and he’s seeking new investors and trading partners. (NYT)
Ground zero chance this happened: Trump claimed yesterday during an event that firefighters carted him away from the site of the September 11, 2001, attacks in Manhattan. (NYT) The President was ostensibly at yesterday’s event to honor Welles Crowther, the “man in the red bandanna” who saved people 25 years ago before dying. Trump said Crowther had become more famous than he is and added, “I don’t like it.” (Washington Post) There’s scant evidence that Trump personally took part in cleanup efforts at Ground Zero. (PolitiFact)
Bunch out: Smithsonian Institution boss Lonnie Bunch announced plans to step down by the end of the year. Bunch has been under tremendous pressure from Trump, who has sought to remake cultural institutions in Washington. (NYT) Bunch said Trump’s machinations didn’t inspire his decision. (Washington Post) The Smithsonian’s board of regents will elect Bunch’s successor. (Smithsonian Magazine) Trump doesn’t yet have control of that board, but it does have some vacancies. (City Cast DC)
Administration perambulation: Trump gave his close aide Natalie Harp a $45,000 cash gift, and he bestowed similar gifts on other “young, loyal White House employees.” (Washington Post) The Kremlin says Trump promised Russian President Vladimir Putin that the US and Russia could fully reconcile if Russia’s war in Ukraine were to end. (CNBC) The American Bar Association voted to abandon diversity requirements for law schools in response to pressure from the administration. (NYT) The administration “is planning a major shake-up at the National Park Service and will tell officials to ‘avoid categorical promises’ about layoffs.” (NOTUS/Washington Sun.) The show “South Park” will change its name to “South America” to lampoon Trump’s renaming binge. The show’s creators said they were “inspired by the bravery and patriotism of Apple and Google,” both of which renamed Lake Ontario “Lake America” in their map products after a Trump declaration. (Guardian)
A great fall day trip at Great Falls, by Daniella Byck:
Great Falls has a great publicist. The cascades made a stunning appearance in the latest teaser for “The Real Housewives of Potomac,” and the B-roll was a reminder of dramatic landscapes close to Washington. So, for waterfall views good enough for Bravo, spend a day at the park in McLean. To see the Potomac River drop into Mather Gorge, start at the visitor’s center and take trails to three different overlooks; all are within a ten-minute walk. For a longer stroll, park at Riverbend Park in Fairfax and take the level path to the lookout points. The trek is about three miles out and back and will save you the $20 parking fee at Great Falls. (There is a $2 recommended donation.)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Ellizabetta La Strega, a witch-inspired new Italian restaurant from Elli Benchimol, has opened in Marcel’s old Foggy Bottom space.
• Micah Smith takes us through a perfect day in Logan Circle.
• Here’s a list of places you can pick your own fall produce.
• Five small mobile coffee shops.
• Thrifty locals give advice on ways to save money around town.
• Photos from a summertime engagement session at Glenstone.
Local news links:
• Arlington will provide grants to families who’ve lost their primary wage-earners to Trump’s immigration crackdown. (ARLnow)
• DC police say a member of the Georgia National Guard stationed in the District pulled a gun on another Guardsman “in an alleged dispute over regulation haircuts.” (AP)
• NOTUS has renamed itself the Washington Sun. The Robert Allbritton–funded site, with which Washingtonian recently struck a content partnership, had previously attempted to rebrand as the Washington Star, but a trademark claim thwarted that initiative. The Sun also announced plans to introduce a paywall. (NYT)
• New Carrollton’s city council may remove Mayor Phelecia Nembhard, alleging that she hired people despite a freeze. (WUSA9)
• Skanska got a contract to rehabilitate the Arland D. Williams Jr. Memorial Bridge, part of the 14th Street Bridge complex. Work will begin next year. (ARLnow)
• A DC cop shot and killed a dog during an arrest Sunday. (DC News Now)
• A boil-water advisory is in place in Purcellville. (WUSA9)
• Alexandria has unleashed goats, imported from Maryland, on an unruly park. (DC News Now)
• Stevie Wonder surprised churchgoers at Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria and patrons at DC’s JazzFest over the weekend. (NBC4 Washington) Wonder will bring a tour that celebrates his 1976 LP “Songs in the Key of Life” to Capital One Arena in November. (WUSA9)
Wednesday’s event picks:
• Robyn is at the Anthem.
• Tom Rosenstiel, Asma Khalid, and John Harwood discuss Rosenstiel’s new book, “The Next Journalism,” at Politics and Prose.
• August Wilson‘s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” opens at Round House.
See more picks 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.
