Good morning. Mostly cloudy with a high around 67 today. A low near 46 overnight. The Wizards visit Orlando this evening.
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I can’t stop listening to
Nelly, “Hot in Herre.” A happy 52nd birthday to Nelly, who sampled DC legend Chuck Brown on this 2002 banger.
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
Iranian negotiators left a meeting in Doha, Qatar, “though not because of difficulties in the negotiations” with Qatari intermediaries over how the war with the US, which President Trump launched in February, may end. (Reuters) Trump reportedly “wants to let negotiations play out” before ordering a fresh round of attacks on the country following tomorrow’s US midterm elections. (Axios) Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, said his country would observe no “geographic limits” when responding to any US attack, while security chief Mohsen Rezaei said the Americans’ “tone has completely changed.” (AP) Iran said on Saturday that the US had attacked fishing boats in the Strait of Hormuz. (Reuters)
Midterms mélange, Part 1
Trump plans to deliver his closing argument for tomorrow’s elections this afternoon next to the Reflecting Pool, a fascinating decision given the water feature’s remarkably troubled history since he inserted himself into plans to renovate it. (Washington Sun) Trump officials on Saturday appealed a federal judge’s order that prohibits them “from threatening or intimidating election officials” in the states. (NBC News) In Alaska, a federal judge dismissed the administration’s preemptive lawsuit against election results in the state. (NYT)
Midterms mélange, Part 2
New polls show Democrats “ahead of Republicans in almost all of the seven battleground states that will determine which party controls the Senate.” (NYT) Though: Only 25 percent of Americans said they trusted polls in…a new poll. (Politico) Some Democrats in the House hope to remove US Representative Haley Stevens from the caucus following her surprise endorsement of Mike Rogers, the Republican running against Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan’s US Senate race. Stevens lost to El-Sayed in the primary. (Politico) Some members of Stevens’s staff resigned as well. (Axios)
Administration perambulation
On Saturday, a federal judge in Florida dismissed, with prejudice, the President’s defamation suit against the Wall Street Journal. The Journal reported last year that Trump prepared a drawing of a naked woman for the since deceased and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, a report Trump claimed was fake. (AP) The Department of Homeland Security bought a Minnesota prison for more than $495 million last year; the company that sold it, CoreCivic, had previously offered it to the state for $75 million. That was before CoreCivic donated half a million dollars to Trump’s inauguration committee. (NYT) A federal judge in DC “seemed skeptical” of the Justice Department’s legal moves against Trump’s perceived foe James Comey. (Politico) US Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut was hospitalized following a stroke Sunday. His staff is “optimistic he will make a full recovery.” (Politico)
The Best Thing I Ate Last Week, by Ann Limpert
Ayat—the Michelin-approved Palestinian restaurant from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn—opened a Foggy Bottom location this summer. It offers a homier version of the cuisine than you’ll find at DC’s most famous Palestinian spot, the endlessly (and deservedly) praised Albi. Everything is built for sharing, so bring friends and order widely. I loved the grilled lamb chops, but really I could fill up on the dips here alone—lemony baba ghanoush, pomegranate-molasses-streaked muhammarah, and a minty mix of cucumber and yogurt. Nice touch: endless rounds of airy pita. As the menu says, “Breaking bread is the whole idea.”
Recently on Washingtonian dot com
• The Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden has been reimagined by the artist Hiroshi Sugimoto—take a peek at some of what you’ll see at the newly reopened space.
• Svetlana Legetic, Ashok Bajaj, and others we’d like to hang out with this month.
Local news links
Trump’s DC projects
The District of Columbia and the commonwealth of Virginia sued to halt construction of Trump’s planned Triumphal Arch near Arlington Cemetery. They argue that unlike a historic preservationist whose suit to halt construction on Trump’s ballroom failed, they have standing to object. (Washington Post) US District Judge Ana Reyes said she would appoint an investigator to look into whether DOJ misled her court about the administration’s plans to renovate the golf course at East Potomac Park. (City Cast DC) Leaders at the Kennedy Center said a $17.5 million donation was dependent on Trump’s name being slapped on the building and threatened to furlough staff if they had to return it, US Representative Joyce Beatty of Ohio said in court documents. The donation arrived, however, after a judge said Trump could not slap his name on the building. (Washington Post)
Other local news
• The Washington Commanders spanked the Philadelphia Eagles last night in a messy, thrilling game. (Washington Sun)
• US Park Police say they recovered the gun used in the killing of congressional intern Eric Tarpinian-Jachym during a traffic stop last month. (NBC4 Washington)
• Staffers at the KIPP DC Grow Academy say they found a gun inside a box of Halloween candy. (WUSA9)
• Prince George’s County officials suspended the liquor license of College Park bar Cornerstone Grill & Loft Friday. A county official alleged that the popular watering hole displayed a “sustained and escalating pattern of operational deficiencies,” including serving alcohol to minors. (WUSA9)
• RIP former Washington Post editor Milton Coleman, who died Friday. He was 79. (Journal-isms)
• Aaron Gilchrist will return to NBC4 Washington. He left the channel in 2020 to join NBC News. (MoCoShow)
• A couple in Bowie found an Asian water monitor—a very large lizard—atop a package on their doorstep last week. Volunteers from the Baltimore Critter Society were able to remove the skittish reptile a few days later. (WUSA9)
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.
