Good morning. Rainy with a high around 64 today. Cloudy with more showers overnight and a low near 59.
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I can’t stop listening to
Kool & the Gang, “Ladies Night.” The ’70s and ’80s hitmakers play MGM National Harbor tonight with the great S.O.S. Band.
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
Two ships sunk in the Strait of Hormuz yesterday after they were hit separately with projectiles—one weeks after an attack. (Reuters) Iran claimed one ship hit a mine. (AP) Tehran has stepped up maritime attacks of late. (NYT) Iran hopes to keep oil prices high by injecting more uncertainty into shipping. (Reuters) The Iran-backed Houthi rebels struck Aramco’s headquarters in Saudi Arabia overnight. (AP) They’re working “to build a new advanced medium-range ballistic missile system with the help of Chinese parts.” (AP)
Prices and Russia
Inflation rose last month, driven by higher energy prices from the war, which President Trump launched against Iran in February. (NYT) Trump blamed former President Biden for higher prices and simultaneously claimed they were “all coming down.” (Washington Sun) The oil market has “shrugged off” Trump’s abruptly announced deal to buy Russian diesel fuel to ease pressure on American consumers, while politicians, including some Republicans, criticized it. (Politico) Ukrainian officials believe bandwidth for Elon Musk‘s Starlink and the US government’s Starshield system have been throttled in recent days to force them to sign on to Trump’s claimed “energy ceasefire” between Ukraine and Russia. (Axios) American officials have “proposed that European countries unfreeze some Russian sovereign assets” to help restart talks between Ukraine and Russia, which invaded its neighbor in 2022. (FT)
Law-talking gal
New White House press secretary Katie Zacharia attempted to put questions about her résumé to rest yesterday, saying that when reporters asked her—in a noisy environment—where she passed her bar exam and she replied “When I moved to China,” what she *thought* they were saying was, “Where were you after law school?” (NYT) Zacharia didn’t pass the California bar exam after she graduated from Pepperdine University in 2011. (WSJ) A California group has filed a complaint with the California State Bar, claiming that Zacharia “presented herself as an attorney at least four times this year through television and podcast appearances.” (Washington Sun)
Ilhan Omar
Administration officials hope to deport US Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota by finding evidence that her father lied about her age when he brought the family to the US in the ’90s. US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro said her office is also investigating Omar’s financial disclosures, another longtime fixation of right-wing critics. (WSJ) FBI agents seized Omar’s phone and her passport when they searched her DC home this week. They issued subpoenas to members of Omar’s family. (NBC News) A federal magistrate judge in DC told prosecutors they must screen any records they took “to protect Omar’s legislative work from investigators.” (CNN)
Administration perambulation
Trump’s former attorney Alina Habba told the President that former Kennedy Center honcho Ric Grenell “failed to deposit a multimillion-dollar donation that her billionaire husband made to the center a year ago.” Grenell calls the accusation “absurd.”(Axios) Trump has been phoning friends to ask what they think of chief of staff Susie Wiles. (Politico) Justice Department officials threatened legal action against California yesterday, demanding the state review what they say is evidence of noncitizens who could be registered to vote. (Politico) ICE rejected a GAO report’s recommendation that its officers’ body-worn cameras be activated automatically. (AP) Trump appointees Christopher Landau and Paolo Zampolli have engaged in a fight, stretching over months, conducted via email. (Politico) At a campaign rally in Arizona yesterday, the President said, “In my opinion, leakers should be shot.” (Bloomberg) He defended accepting a luxury jet from Qatar to use as Air Force One, too, saying, “When you’re given gifts, you take ’em, right?” (AP)
Hidden Eats, by Ike Allen
If you’re in Beltsville, it’s always a treat to swing by the Filipino lunch counter Manila Mart and check in on their creative drink and dessert specials. Yesterday, I tried a milk tea inspired by the steamed rice cake called bibingka and struggled to choose between iced parfait-like desserts flavored with Milo (chocolate malted milk powder) or fresh corn. For a main course, I knew what I wanted: pancit palabok, the Filipino birthday party staple of thin rice noodles slathered with a sunny annato-orange sauce made from shrimp and ground pork, adorned festively with scallions, slices of boiled egg, and more shrimp.
Take Hidden Eats with you! Our eerily 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
• Our new issue‘s cover package delves into an uncomfortable question: Is DC the loneliest city in the country? Our guide to feeling less alone includes:
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- Lists of places to make new friends, social clubs, solo date ideas, ways to make the most of your time alone, and tips for finding the right therapist.
- Could joining a social group help?
- Ways Congress (really!) could help.
- And much more.
• The Brindley Brothers were a well-regarded Americana band before its members’ day jobs—running Union Stage Presents— took over. They’ll reunite this weekend to commemorate 25 years of presenting concerts in the region.
Local news links
• Installation errors caused Trump’s botched renovation of the Reflecting Pool, according to report that found 85 places where a new blue lining for the pool failed. Unlike the President, the report does not lay any blame for the fiasco on vandals. (Washington Post)
• The District has spent millions on violence interruption programs. It hasn’t seen much return on its investment. (Washington Sun)
• US Representative Andy Harris of Maryland threatened to prosecute a student journalist who interviewed him, claiming incorrectly that it was illegal to record him in a public place without his consent. (NBC4 Washington) In other Maryland First Amendment news, a nonprofit that has received millions in public funds from Prince George’s County and whose founder is pals with County Council Chair Krystal Oriadha instructed a reporter, “Please do not call this number again.” (ABC 7)
• Ticket resellers SeatGeek and Vivid Seats are parties to a lawsuit that hopes to stop a DC law that limits the price of secondhand tickets to 10 percent of their original value. (Washington Sun)
• Giant Food says it’s had a “network security issue” in recent days. Its website and mobile app have been down as a result. (WTOP)
• City Cast DC named Washington Post vet Ethan Selzer as its new GM. (City Cast DC)
• It can be kind of hard to imagine, but Rosslyn does have history. Spooky, creepy history in fact. (ARLnow)
Things to Do
• The Middleburg Film Festival begins today.
• The Stafford County Fair kicks off.
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.
