Good morning. Partly sunny and at times gusty today with a chance of light showers after 11 AM and a high around 81. A low near 63 overnight. The Nationals begin a four-day-long visit Pittsburgh today. You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @abeaujon.87 on Signal, and there’s a link to my email address below.
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I can’t stop listening to:
Purbayan Chatterjee and Mark Lettieri, “Soar.” Indian sitar maestro Chatterjee and fusion guitarist Lettieri (of Snarky Puppy) have a new album coming out in June; they’ll perform at Montgomery College Wednesday as part of an artistic residency.
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:
World 2, Vance 0: Last week, President Trump dispatched Vice President JD Vance to Hungary to campaign for Prime Minister Viktor Orbán‘s reelection and to Pakistan to negotiate a peace deal with Iran. Neither effort prevailed: Orbán lost decisively in Sunday’s elections. (AP) And peace talks fell apart after Iran balked at the US’s demands, including that it reopen the Strait of Hormuz and give up its stock of enriched uranium. (Politico) Iran had a list of demands that included extending the two-week ceasefire to Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon and for the US to pay reparations for the war. By closing the strait, Iran believes it has “more leverage in this round of negotiations than it did before the war.” (NYT) Iranian and US officials developed something of a rapport during the marathon session, but the US feels it emerged mostly with “a better understanding of Iran’s vulnerabilities.” (Washington Post)
Which leads us to: In response, Trump announced that Iran lost the war and that the US would blockade the strait. (Washington Post) That threat later got attenuated: US Central Command said the US would allow ships that don’t plan to stop at Iranian ports to pass. And Iran said “NO PORT in the region will be safe.” (AP) Why’s the President blocking a body of water that’s already pretty much closed? Trump thinks he can put pressure on Iran by limiting tolls it can extract from ships that it does allow through. (CNN) The move has already driven the price of oil back up, which means no relief is in sight for US consumers battered by high gas prices. Trump said Sunday that gas prices may even be “a little bit higher” by the time of the midterm elections this fall. (NYT) British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK wouldn’t support the blockade. (Reuters)
Oh, and also Trump got into it with the Pope: Trump went off on Pope Leo XIV last night, calling the pontiff “weak on crime.” (NYT) The social media fusillade followed a “60 Minutes” segment when three American cardinals criticized the Iran war and ICE’s hard-edged immigration-enforcement tactics. (CBS News) Trump followed that post up with “an apparently AI-generated photo of himself seemingly dressed as Jesus, healing a sick man as doctors and members of the military watch in pride.” (Variety) Leo, who called Trump’s threat last week to wipe out “an entire civilization” in Iran if it didn’t reopen the strait “truly unacceptable,” said he had “no fear of the Trump administration” and would “not shy away from announcing the message of the Gospel and inviting all people to look for ways of building bridges of peace and reconciliation.” (AP)
Meanwhile, in Trump’s plans to remake DC: The Kennedy Center’s staff went through another round of layoffs Friday as the arts complex prepares to close for two years for renovations Trump wants. (Washington Post) The center’s top lawyer, Elliot Berke, tried and failed to get his cover band the DePlorables to play at one of the complex’s venues. (Politico) A panel of federal judges said Saturday that the administration’s plan to add a massive ballroom onto the White House can move forward until at least Friday. (NBC News) Trump unveiled his plans for a 250-foot triumphal arch near Arlington Cemetery. (Washington Post) Trump proposed repainting the Eisenhower Executive Office Building with “magic paint.” (CNN)
Administration perambulation: The US killed five more people in boat strikes this weekend. (CBS News) The Department of Homeland Security is investigating whether US Representative Eric Swalwell of California employed a Brazilian nanny illegally. (Politico) Swalwell dropped out of the California gubernatorial race this weekend after a former staffer accused him of sexual assault. (NBC News) Trump fired the board members of the Presidio Trust in San Francisco. It’s not clear what’s next for the body. (NYT) Also fired: Two more immigration judges who “dismissed high-profile deportation cases against international students who had advocated for Palestinians.” (NYT) Consumer prices rose in March. (CNBC) Trump has “repeatedly promised his top administration officials pardons before he leaves office.” (WSJ) Congress will return to DC this week—perhaps it will find a way to fund the Department of Homeland Security. (Punchbowl News) The administration “acknowledged it made a significant error in figures it used to help justify a fraud probe into New York’s Medicaid program.” (AP)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• We asked some local landscape architects how they would spend $10 billion to spruce up DC.
Local news links:
• DC Mayor Muriel Bowser proposed a 3.6 percent cut to the District’s budget. (Axios D.C.)
• Pre-K applications in the District “have plunged this year, particularly at schools in immigrant neighborhoods and those with bilingual programs.” (Washington Post)
• The Department of Justice threatened to sue Virginia over a bill that passed the General Assembly. It would restrict some gun sales. Governor Abigail Spanberger hasn’t said whether she’ll sign the measure. (Virginian-Pilot)
• There were more fatal shootings in the District this weekend. (ABC 7)
• Metro Transit police arrested four teens at the Waterfront Metro Saturday during what cops said was another “teen takeover.” (WTOP)
• Cops in DC arrested a man they said stabbed someone at Throw Social early on Sunday. (DC News Now)
• Dearay Wilson got 18 years for a 2021 shooting in DC that killed Jeremy Black, a bystander who was on his way to dinner. (WTOP)
• Former Washington Post journalist Thomas Pham LeGro pleaded guilty to possessing child sexual abuse material. (DC News Now)
• Police are searching for Tobi Obikoya, a 16-year-old who went missing in Arlington last week. (NBC4 Washington)
• Three people were rescued while clinging to the tree they hit with a boat in the Potomac. (WTOP)
• Alex Ovechkin didn’t say whether he’d retire after yesterday’s home game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Fans turned out en masse for what may have been the Capitals star’s last appearance at Capital One Arena. (The Athletic)
• A Del Ray restaurant found success on Instagram by offering free milkshakes to people who dance into the shop. (ALXNow)
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.
