Good morning. Sunny with a high around 67 today. A low near 46 overnight.
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I can’t stop listening to
Bluebelt, “Aspirin.” These local indie rockers celebrate the release of a new EP alongside Lookout and the Overlook tonight at Songbyrd.
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
Iran said it damaged seven ships in the Strait of Hormuz overnight and threatened attacks against US bases in the Gulf region. (AP) The US has drawn up plans to strike Iran after next month’s midterm elections. Officials hope that by targeting energy infrastructure, they’ll force Iran to seek an end to the war President Trump launched nearly eight months ago. (NYT) Iran has sold off a stock of oil that provided a cushion against the US campaign. (WSJ) A spokesperson for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Tehran could target internet cables in the strait and exacerbate the energy crisis that’s sprouted from the war if a fresh wave of attacks materializes. (Drop Site) The US pulled some diplomats and family members from Saudi Arabia as Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen continued attacks amid the widening war. (Reuters) Three people were killed in strikes on Saudi targets yesterday. (Bloomberg) The US “has quietly been scaling back its troop presence at bases across the Middle East in recent days.” (NBC News) Trump ally Peter Thiel told attendees at a lecture that the US shouldn’t have gone to war with Iran. (Politico)
Prez vs. press
The White House demanded Politico retract three recent articles. Trump abruptly banned Politico, CNN, and MS Now last month, but a judge ordered the White House to restore their access while their lawsuits over the decision proceed. (Axios) Politico says it corrected one article and plans to defend itself. The White House also kicked Independent reporter Andrew Feinberg off a trip to Iowa after a recent contretemps with Trump in the Oval Office. (Washington Post) FCC honcho Brendan Carr threatened broadcasters who reported on recent polls that show the President’s approval ratings have plummeted. (Politico)
Midterms mélange
Vice President JD Vance defended an ad for Ohio GOP gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy that features the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton. (AP) Many Republicans criticized the ad; Vance called their concerns “whining.” (NYT) Some Democrats filed suit against Trump and the Justice Department, claiming the administration was “unlawfully interfering with the midterms by pressuring states to remove voters from their rolls.” (Washington Post) Trump will head to Mississippi on Monday to shore up support for the GOP ticket there. (Mississippi Today) Some GOP members of the Senate fear Democrats could compete in the usually deep red state this year. (Axios) The US accused Canadian officials of interfering in elections south of the border. (Politico)
Administration perambulation
The State Department “asked some foreign service officials up for promotion who they voted for in the 2016, 2020 and 2024 presidential elections.” (Washington Sun) DOJ dropped an appeal against a ruling that zapped an administration attempt to rework a student-loan forgiveness program. (AP) US Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota said she plans to move from her DC house that DOJ raided recently now that its address is widely known. (MS Now) The Department of Homeland Security asked the Supreme Court to allow it to resume construction of a border wall in Texas’s Big Bend National Park. (Courthouse News Service) Trump said he would choose bounty recipients in a new program he hopes will root out fraud. The first check went to conservative YouTuber Nick Shirley. (NYT) Americans who receive settlement checks from Amazon will be informed the payments are the result of an agreement with “President Trump’s Federal Trade Commission.” (Politico) Staffers for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were frustrated they couldn’t get a globe used by Dwight D. Eisenhower installed in Hegseth’s office during a government shutdown, so they moved it themselves. But! The DIYers “lost control of the artifact and dropped it, sending the globe crashing onto its base and impaling the fragile shell near Antarctica.” (Washington Post)
Hidden Eats, by Ike Allen
One upside for anyone who has to take care of business at a Mexican consulate, whether in Los Angeles, Houston, or DC, is that there’s often a tamal vendor or taco truck waiting for you outside when you’re done. El Charrito parks just outside of the Mexican Embassy’s consular section on 23rd Street at lunchtime on weekdays, and its owners set up a row of multicolored plastic stools on the sidewalk when the weather’s nice. I ordered some pleasantly greasy al pastor and bistec tacos (lengua had run out), and slathered them in fresh green salsa. You don’t have to be renewing your Mexican passport to have an excuse to seek these out: I’d put them up against any tacos in downtown DC.
Take Hidden Eats with you! Our hauntingly 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
• We spoke with Lindsay Owens about her new book, “Gouged,” and how marketers use surveillance to fool you into paying more for everything.
• Our first look at the Revada Arts Center, an arts complex that opens Friday in Southwest DC.
• Local preservationists are still fighting Trump’s plan to paint the Eisenhower Executive Office Building white.
Local news links
• What exactly happened during a confrontation that led to National Guard troops shooting a man outside a Barracks Row bar? Federal charging documents “stop short of accusing” Jerrell Jackson with shooting a Guardsman. (City Cast DC)
• DOJ’s inspector general declined to look into US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro‘s prosecution of Olympic canoeist David Hearn. The IG said doing so “would risk undermining public confidence in the Department’s ability to police its own conduct.” (AP)
• Arlington County sued the administration, saying officials have been “Threatening to send armed agents to polling stations.” (ARLnow)
• The Wizards soundly defeated Milwaukee in their regular-season opener last night. Fans chanted “MVP” to Anthony Davis while they finally got what ESPN somewhat rudely terms “watchable basketball.” (ESPN) The University of Maryland canned Mike Locksley. It looks like the school will have to pay the now former head football coach $9 million to leave. (Washington Sun)
• A Waldorf man got eight years, much of it suspended, for stealing almost $200,000 from Bethesda mailboxes. (MoCoShow)
• Lime says it banned 1,000 accounts of people it said rode its scooters while underage. The micro-mobility company faces “complaints that electric bikes and scooters are being driven unsafely and, in some cases, being used as the getaway vehicles in crimes.” (NBC4 Washington)
• If you live in Centreville and have a porch, watch out for this uninvited guest. (WUSA9)
• Say a prayer for ’90s rockers Sponge, who announced that someone stole a bunch of their guitars when they stayed in College Park after a show in Silver Spring. (MoCoShow)
Things to Do
• Aziz Ansari is at the Warner Theatre.
• Revel in Esther Bubley‘s photographs of World War II–era DC at the Capital Jewish Museum.
• The theme for the Washington Blade’s annual Best of LGBTQ DC event at Longview Gallery is “Murder on the Dance Floor.”
See more picks for this week and weekend 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.
