Good morning. Mostly cloudy today with a high around 71. A low near 60 overnight.
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I can’t stop listening to:
Rocketship, “I Don’t Know Why I Still Love You.” It’s been 30 years since this band’s classic twee album, “A Certain Smile, a Certain Sadness.” Celebrate the occasion ruefully tonight at Pearl Street Warehouse, where they’ll play with Lightheaded.
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: Eight US Marines were injured when Iran attacked a vessel they were on in the Strait of Hormuz two weeks ago. (NBC News) US negotiators will meet with Iran this week, President Trump said Sunday. (Axios) Trump wants concessions from Iran on its nuclear program to kick-start a deal, but Iran “hasn’t compromised at all” since Trump on Saturday rejected an Iranian proposal to end the war he started in February. (WSJ) Iran wanted relief from US sanctions before negotiations began, Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the United Nations said. (Politico) Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said mediators between the two countries “had not officially relayed a US rejection of the plan.” (Reuters) Defense contractors are working feverishly to replenish the US’s stock of weapons, but doing so could take years. (WSJ)
At home: The price of diesel fuel keeps setting records, and higher diesel use tends to map neatly onto pro-Trump districts. That economic pain has caused some Republicans to call on Trump to end the war. (Washington Post) Trump said Sunday he was “very seriously” considering a ban on diesel exports. (Bloomberg) Farmers in particular are reeling from a combination of diesel prices, tariffs, and the price of fertilizer and upset about Trump’s plan to import foreign beef as well as ICE raids on beef-processing plants last week. (WSJ) Some GOP lawmakers are on the hunt for “legislation they can quickly take up and pass in the coming days that could redeem them in the eyes of voters.” (NYT)
Meanwhile: If you watched the Washington Commanders upset the Seattle Seahawks yesterday, you probably saw a black-and-white ad that showed Trump walking down a hallway while he warned in voiceover that the US faces “the final battle.” In a lower third display, the ad said it was paid for by the US government. (CNN) This commercial, the third apparently government-funded advertisement for Trump to air in recent days, is pretty much the same as a campaign spot he used in 2024. (NYT) The US has spent about $319,000 to air the ads so far. (AP)
Press ban: The White House booted CNN from Trump’s trip to Tennessee over the weekend. (Washington Post) A judge’s decision last week that restored White House “hard passes” to CNN, Politico, and MS Now did not specifically address TV pool duties—the rotation system under which broadcast outlets share video responsibilities. (AP) The other members of the pool have “several unpleasant options” with regard to resuming broadcast coverage. (NYT)
Administration perambulation: Administration officials are considering a plan to hold a Major League Baseball game in Grand Teton National Park. (Washington Post) Trump offered to sell US arms to China during his recent summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to David Perdue, the US’s ambassador to China. That would be…unusual. (NYT) The White House said it would claw back $810 billion in federal spending “using a rare and contested power to axe funding for immigrant services and diversity-focused initiatives.” (AP) Lawmakers in both parties were not especially psyched about this initiative. (Washington Post) Trump said he’d lowered fuel-economy standards for cars sold in the US. (CNBC) The FBI “removed two counterterrorism leaders due to dissatisfaction with their investigation of allegedly threatening phone calls made to senior White House aide Stephen Miller’s wife.” (Bloomberg Law) The latest Trump-ordered prosecution of James Comey—the seashells case—won’t go to trial until at least early next year. (NBC News)
The Best Thing I Ate Last Week, by Ann Limpert:
When it comes to special occasions, my favorite kind of celebrations are centered around one great, splurge-y family-style dish. The St. Anselm axe-handle ribeye. The Maydan lamb shoulder. A giant pile of steamed crabs. This week it was a whole Peking duck at Q by Peter Chang, the 5,000-square-foot Chinese dining room housed somewhat awkwardly at the base of a downtown Bethesda office building. Chang, the chef/restaurateur, takes immense pride in his ducks—he even ordered a special oven for them when he opened the place nearly a decade ago—and it shows. The bronze skin stays crackly, while the marinated meat is rich and tender. Even the ultra-fresh cucumbers and leeks and the filament-thin housemade pancakes are noteworthy.
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• The most expensive residential real estate transactions last month—and the boldfaced names who made them.
• Paul Jarosh, an engineer who lives in Culpeper, got into “competitive farming” a few years ago. Now his gigantic squash are breaking records.
Local news links:
Sports of Washingtonian Today: As mentioned above, the Commanders, led by QB Marcus Mariota, stunned the Super Bowl champion Seahawks yesterday. (Washington Post) Jayden Daniels reportedly won’t need surgery and could be playing again soon. (Hogs Haven) The Nationals won their season finale yesterday, beating the Mets 6-4. (AP) The Mystics lost to the Atlanta Dream in the first game of their playoff series. (ESPN)
• Former Kennedy Center employees say the arts complex put off repairs that its leadership now cites as the reason for the center’s closure. (NYT)
• The jury in the bribery trial of DC Council member Trayon White was still deadlocked on Friday. (City Cast DC)
• A pro-data-center party in DC over the weekend at PubKey featured a sign that read “Virginia is for Servers.” (Washington Sun)
• Some musicians who were scheduled to perform at this past weekend’s Oceans Calling festival in Ocean City, including KT Tunstall, played free sets around town after the gig got canceled. (ABC 7)
• Former “Quiet Storm” host Angela Stribling died Saturday. She was 58. (NBC4 Washington)
• Prince Edward—shockingly, the sole member of the British royal family the author of this newsletter has met—will visit Mount Vernon on Thursday. (Alexandria Living)
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.
