Good morning. Mostly cloudy and breezy today with a high around 66. A low near 51 tonight. A coastal flood advisory is in effect for low-lying parts of the District’s shoreline. The Mystics will host the Chicago Sky at Capital One Arena this evening. The Nationals will wrap up a four-game visit to the Tigers this afternoon.
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I can’t stop listening to:
Negative Approach, “Nothing.” Some excellent hardcore from these Detroit primary movers. Negative Approach play 9:30 tonight with Circle Jerks and Haywire.
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:
Un-banned in DC: A federal judge temporarily restored White House access to journalists from Politico, CNN, and MS Now early Thursday. US District Judge Timothy Kelly called the outlets’ stories that the White House cited in an attempt to justify President Trump‘s abrupt ban on the news organizations—reportedly prompted by clips shown to him by close aide Natalie Harp—“routine” and suggested the administration’s subsequent attempt to explain the ban as a matter of national security was not its “actual motivation.” (Politico) Wait, it gets better: In a letter about the ban, the White House told Politico it threatened national security by way of an article that quoted a “senior administration official.” Turns out Politico and other outlets did so at the White House’s request. (Washington Post) But wait, it gets better than that: That source was reportedly Vice President JD Vance. (Status)
The war: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian addressed the United Nations General Assembly yesterday. He displayed photos of schoolchildren killed in the early days of the war, which Trump started in February and has struggled to end ever since. (AP) US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday that talks with Iranian officials during the summit had been “positive” but yielded no “major breakthrough.” (NYT) Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao told lawmakers yesterday that eight sailors on the USS Abraham Lincoln had attempted suicide when the Lincoln supported combat operations in the Gulf amid a record-length deployment. (CNN)
Midterms vibe check: As diesel fuel prices batter farmers and truckers, the White House is “preparing a plan to ban exports of diesel for 90 days, despite splits inside the administration and with the oil industry.” (Politico) Energy Secretary Chris Wright is among those who oppose a ban. He suggested Wednesday that any such embargo might be voluntary. (WSJ) Other administration types are mulling a rollback on Trump’s decision to increase imports of foreign beef, which was intended to ease prices on consumers but has freaked out US producers. (Politico) In Michigan, GOP candidates are breaking with Trump on the Iran war, AI, and data centers. (NBC News) The US Senate could vote today on a war-powers resolution. (Politico)
Administration perambulation: Trump greeted Chinese President Xi Jinping on the tarmac last night as Xi’s visit to Washington began. Such a greeting is unusual in recent history. (Axios) In not great timing, it appears that China “has taken possession of potentially sensitive F-35 stealth aircraft parts that were inexplicably diverted to Hong Kong while being sent to the US from Australia.” (Bloomberg) A judge in Iowa dismissed with prejudice Trump’s lawsuit against the Des Moines Register. The President sued the newspaper over a poll he disliked. (NYT) States in the US can now obtain Covid vaccines for low-income children after a yet-to-be-explained delay at the CDC. (Washington Post) In Chicago, a US citizen was reportedly bloodied during an interaction with federal immigration officers who mistook him for someone else. (AP) During the last year, Health Secretary RFK Jr. “accepted $4 million in book advances and more than $270,000 in gifts” from people and entities involved in the MAHA movement. (NYT) Sheriff’s deputies in Maricopa County, Arizona, say Matthew Ammel—a former bodyguard to former US Senator Kyrsten Sinema whose ex-wife claims had an affair with Sinema—broke into Sinema’s house, trashed her paintings, and shattered a mirror. (AZFamily)
Hidden Eats, by Ike Allen:
La Doña Cafe, a small coffee place and bar that opened last fall in DC’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood, serves a far better breakfast than it needs to. Chilaquiles are supposed to be good here, but I was in the mood for a Salvadoran-style plato tipico. Refried black beans, sticky sweet plantains, briny white cheese, crema, avocado, and eggs any style are arranged neatly on a blue plate, to be mushed together in whatever permutations you like and scooped up with warm tortillas that arrive perspiring under a paper napkin. The plato tipico may be unremarkable in Mount Pleasant, but it’s certainly one of the world’s great breakfasts.
Take Hidden Eats with you! Our brain-meltingly popular map will show you which Hidden Eats—the out-of-the-way mom-and-pop eateries Ike highlights in this newsletter and in our print magazine—are nearby.
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Tommy’s Tacos is a new Tex-Mex carryout from former Pineapple & Pearls chef Thomas Stacy. It’s in Alethia Tanner Park, it serves breakfast tacos all day, and Stacy says that if diners fail to dress their tacos with salsa, he “will come for them.” Better not risk it!
• It’s corn maze season, by gum. Here are nine for you to try this fall.
• Speaking of fall, how about a winery day trip? Put Burnt Hill Farm on your list, too: The Maryland winery has a 12-seat dining room run by former Momofuku CCDC chef Tae Strain.
• Reports from a joyful National Cathedral wedding and another whose theme was “old Washington, with a twist.”
Local news links:
• The Kennedy Center will remain closed until at least next Wednesday, its executive director Matt Floca said in a court filing. (NBC4 Washington)
• A member of the public initiated some “improper contact” with an alternate juror in the bribery trial of DC Council member Trayon White, prosecutors said yesterday as deliberations did not lead to a verdict. The person reportedly told the juror, “You broke our hearts. You were our hung jury.” (WTOP)
• Trump clashed with James McCrery II, the first architect on his ballroom project, who raised objections about the event space not being built to code. “I am the code,” Trump replied. (My fellow sickos will recall how this remark echoes something Trump once told members of the Scottish Parliament when he objected to wind power.) (Washington Post)
• The White House denied a report that Trump wishes Ford’s Theatre to be renamed for him. (Washington Sun)
• Police in Pennsylvania arrested Roger “Paul” Bradford, who is accused of killing his wife, Lisa Bradford, in their home in Aldie, Virginia, on Tuesday. (NBC4 Washington)
• A manager at Omar’s Pitas & Platters in Alexandria used a grill scraper to fend off a man who allegedly tried to hold up the carryout—much favored by the fellow who writes this roundup—with a hunting knife. “I know how to swing a cricket bat, and I hit him pretty hard,” Merve McDonald said. (ALXnow)
• Take a look inside the big tunnel DC Water is boring to reduce stormwater and sewage overflows into the Potomac. (Washington Post)
• Stop bedazzling your portable cocktail cup: The District intends to enforce open-container laws at this year’s Adams Morgan PorchFest. (City Cast DC)
• True Value Hardware on 17th in DC’s Logan Circle plans to close at the end of the year. (PoPville)
Thursday’s event picks:
• It’s Theatre Week! You can catch productions all over town for bargain prices until October 11, and there are lots of other events, too. Here are just some of the shows you can catch.
• The Reunion, a tenth-anniversary celebration at the National Museum of African American History & Culture, starts today.
• “Come From Away” continues at Ford’s Theatre, which is as of this morning still named for John T. Ford.
• Katie Pruitt plays the Atlantis.
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.
