Good morning. Another nice one today: Sunny with a high around 80. A low near 60 overnight. The Nationals host the Phillies tonight.
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I can’t stop listening to:
Angine de Poitrine, “Sarniezz.” These bananas Canadians have captured the hearts and minds of many of the music sickos I know in the last year. Their show tonight at the Atlantis is sold out, but perhaps you nerds can use your slide rules to find the optimum outdoor spot from which to overhear their polka-dot-festooned math rock?
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:
Mailed state: The US Supreme Court zapped President Trump‘s attempts to restrict mail-in voting, saying a new administration rule didn’t give states enough time to adjust before November’s midterm elections. (Politico) Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented, with Alito writing that the difficulties that states sued to prevent were “not enough to convince me.” (NBC News) Trump’s “battle to assert control over the election process is far from finished.” (NYT) Related: Department of Homeland Security employees made false statements to access state voter databases, according to a whistleblower report that senators Chuck Schumer and Alex Padilla released yesterday. (Axios)
The war: Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen captured two islands in the Red Sea, tightening Tehran’s grip on another oil shipping route, this one quite important to Saudi Arabia. (AP) Despite the Saudis having “invested billions of dollars and extensive political capital in building personal relationships with Mr. Trump and his family,” Trump reportedly declined to help the Saudis militarily after an attack on a pipeline by another Iran-backed militia. (NYT) Contrary to claims by Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a Department of Defense inspector general report confirmed that the war Trump launched in February has caused a weapons shortage. (NBC News) Meanwhile: Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said yesterday that the US now has orbiting space weapons it can use to protect American troops. (Military Times)
Junior league: Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev paid “hundreds of thousands of dollars of wedding expenses” for Donald Trump Jr.‘s “Monte Carlo meets frat party” wedding to Bettina Anderson in May. (ProPublica) The couple acknowledged Kremlov’s gifts via an Instagram post yesterday, calling Kremlev a “dear friend” and saying “sometimes a wedding gift is simply a wedding gift.” (NYT) Kremlev has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. (NBC News) US Representative Robert Garcia of California, who’s likely to lead the House Oversight Committee if Democrats take the chamber this fall, says he’s investigating. (Axios)
Administration perambulation: Trump claimed that concerns about AI destroying humanity are a “hoax” and said that a “STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!)” President, such as himself, are the only guardrails necessary to prevent the end of civilization. (AP) US Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky appeared in Congress yesterday for the first time in three months. Republicans need his vote. (Politico) Former CIA official David Rush—the guy who allegedly had all those gold bars in his house—has “has reached a tentative plea agreement” with federal prosecutors. (AP) Trump nominated Kimberly Greenwood, who’s married to “God Bless the USA” singer Lee Greenwood, to be the US’s ambassador to Barbados. (Washington Post) Trump said the White House was a “dump” before he moved in. (HuffPost) Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau scotched a plan to display a bull statue at an exposition in Serbia because he believed it resembled Baal, noting in an email that “The golden calf from the Bible is often portrayed as a golden bull.” (Axios)
A fall garden day trip, by Daniella Byck:
September is the season for bright yellow goldenrod, star-shaped asters, and quiet gazebo reflections at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, Virginia. One of the great things about Meadowlark is the breadth and diversity of horticultural collections. Among them are the Butterly Garden, planted to attract fluttering creatures, a Bold Garden where the staff experiments with fun, surprising flora, and the small bonsai pavilion. But perhaps the most unique feature is the Korean Bell Garden, the only bell garden of its type in the Western Hemisphere. A three-ton bell is housed in a beautiful pavilion; the structure is constructed without nails using Korean traditional architecture techniques and decorated with carvings. This centerpiece is surrounded by jangseung—totem poles built to guard villages as well as other protective statues. The entire area is a feat of craftsmanship. Admission to Meadowlark is $9 for adults aged 18-59, $5 for adults over 60 and children aged 6-17.
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Adam Jentleson has some surprising advice for Democrats: Stop being so predictable.
• Patrick O’Connell discusses some of the more eyebrow-raising stories in his new memoir.
• It’s neighborhood guide time! This month: What to do, where to eat, and what’s for sale in Fairfax.
Local news links:
• Antoinette Forbes has been missing since September 4. Friends say the 53-year-old PR exec and mother would not have just split. (Washington Post) Forbes’s ex, Russell Ashford, whom police have not named as a suspect in her disappearance, was arrested at a traffic stop in Pennsylvania this weekend. Ashford “was on probation after assaulting [Forbes] in 2021.” (NBC News)
• The Kennedy Center’s Trumpy management proposed ten different ways it hopes to honor Trump on the building, including saluting his “generosity.” (Washington Sun)
• JBG Smith and Mid-America Apartments agreed to pay $9.3 million to settle a lawsuit brought by DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb‘s office that accuses them of illegally using software to raise rents. (ABC7)
• Trump’s next DC renovation project? The World War II Memorial. (Washington Sun)
• Maryland lawmaker C. Anthony Muse told police his driver was responsible for an unusual parking job last month. Video of the incident appears to tell a different story. (ABC7)
• The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is likely restore crossing guards at ten high schools after “several Fairfax County Public Schools students were struck by vehicles during the first few weeks of the school year.” Sixteen high schools will still have no guards if this proposal goes through. (WUSA9)
Tuesday’s event picks:
• Through Friday, there’s a celebration of murals at Alethia Tanner Park.
• Get a head start on Mexican Independence Day with live music and margarita specials at Taquería Xochi.
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.
