Good morning. A high of 56 today with light winds. A low around 42 overnight. The Dodgers visit the Nationals again today, and the Wizards host Philadelphia. 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:
Cowboy Junkies, “Blue Moon Revisited (Song for Elvis)” This band has done a lot since their 1988 breakthrough record, “The Trinity Session,” but I remember so clearly how that album obliterated the lines between the country music my parents listened to and the Velvet Underground LPs I loved. So that’s today’s pick! Cowboy Junkies play the Birchmere tonight and Thursday.
Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out:
Gulf war: US District Judge Trevor McFadden ordered the Trump administration to stop icing out the Associated Press. The administration has denied the news co-op White House access since it declined to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, as Trump would prefer. (AP) “Even so, an AP reporter and photographer were turned back from joining a reporting pool on a presidential motorcade early Tuesday evening, almost two hours after the decision came down.” (NPR) “On at least three recent occasions, senior Trump press aides have refused to engage with reporters’ questions because the journalists listed identifying pronouns in their email signatures.” (NYT)
Impost traumatic stress syndrome: US markets were down again yesterday, following a brief rally. Trump’s tariffs are driving the unrest. (AP) The S&P 500 is almost in bear territory. (Washington Post) The tariffs went into effect this morning. Trump placed a 104 percent tariff on Chinese goods. (CNN) Billionaires, Trump advisers, and other masters of the universe have been unable to persuade Trump to back off the disruptive duties. (NYT) “The global trading system is only one example of the Trump administration tearing something apart, only to reveal it has no plan for how to replace it.” (NYT) “The idea of a Made-in-the-USA iPhone has been an obsession for politicians for years,” Jason Koebler writes. Such an accomplishment would “require a nearly impossible-to-fathom restructuring of the global supply chains that make the iPhone possible in the first place.” (404 Media)
Let’s insert a line break and a subhead for visual relief: Most countries affected by the tariffs (which is pretty much all countries) say they’ve had little to no response to requests for meetings with the administration. (Politico) “These countries are calling us up. Kissing my ass.” —the President of the United States. (Aaron Rupar) The EU is getting creative with its retaliatory tariffs, hitting goods from red states. (Politico Europe) Meanwhile: A dozen House Republicans may join legislation that would limit Trump’s tariff ability. (Axios) Meanwhile, conservatives in the House GOP are “stalling action on President Donald Trump’s ‘big’ bill of tax breaks and spending reductions, refusing to accept a Senate GOP budget framework approved over the weekend because it doesn’t cut enough.” (AP) Trump is turning up the rhetorical pressure on them. (Punchbowl News)
Law and border: The administration is exploring ways to deport US citizens. (HuffPost) Acting IRS boss Melanie Krause will resign over an agreement the Treasury Department made to share information with immigration officials. (Washington Post) “The deal has fueled further turmoil at the top of the agency.” (NYT) Advocates for Dr. Khan Suri, the Georgetown professor the administration arrested in Rosslyn last month, say he was moved between five different ICE facilities even though beds were available in Virginia and that “multiple ICE facilities refused him food or water to break” his Ramadan fast. (Center for Constitutional Rights)
Take SCOTUS: The Supreme Court temporarily blocked a lower court’s order that would have required the government to rehire 16,000 probationary employees. (Washington Post) The high court “has issued a series of narrow and legalistic rulings that seem calculated to avoid the larger issues presented by a president rapidly working to expand power and reshape government.” (NYT)
Administration perambulation: Amy Gleason, who the administration claims is running Elon Musk‘s DOGE project, distanced herself from DOGE’s actions in private messages. (San Francisco Chronicle) The Justice Department wants to refund financial penalties paid by some January 6 defendants. (Politico) WilmerHale is fighting the administration’s order against it. (NBC News) The administration has halted funding to Princeton and to Northwestern universities. (NYT) It yanked millions from Princeton, too. (Axios) Cuts at Social Security have strained services. (NYT) Trump signed an executive order to protect the coal industry. (NYT) It’s targeted the government’s mine-safety efforts. (Government Executive) Musk and Peter Navarro are still beefing. (Politico)
One book you should read, by Rob Brunner
Twenty-five years ago, my late mother purchased a novel from Politics & Prose. She read it (I assume) and stuck it away on a bookshelf. Time passed. Recently, I found myself at my parents’ house in Woodley Park, looking for something to read. I spotte,d the book, a P&P price sticker still on the back. It was something I’ve been meaning to read for years—Helen DeWitt’s “The Last Samurai”—so I dove in. It’s great! Instantly funny and smart and surprising, the kind of novel that gives you that mild stomach knot of excitement as you flip the pages. I knew I had to read the whole thing, so I brought it home and am how having one of the best reading experiences of recent memory. But it’s not just DeWitt’s riveting novel. It’s this specific object, which makes me feel intimately connected to my mom, knowing she held the same book, purchased it from the same store I still patronize a quarter of a century later. We often used to talk about the books we were reading; I wish more than anything I could know what she thought of “The Last Samurai.”
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• New legislation could cap resale prices of concert tickets in DC.
• There’ll be a party for Alex Ovechkin at Union Station Friday. These brothers pledged to see his historic goal, and reader, they did it.
• La Betty is back as a vinyl listening lounge.
• The best church thrift shops in the area. Church sales thrifty folks should check out.
Local news links:
• Three people were killed and another three were injured in a mass shooting near Fredericksburg last night. (WTOP) No one is in custody. (Washington Post)
• The House GOP has no immediate plans to address fixing DC’s budget, into which it blew a billion-dollar hole. (Politico) District parents and students visited lawmakers Monday, urging them to act. (WTOP)
• Northern Virginia leaders asked Virginia’s legislature for help because of the Trump administration’s budget cuts. (AP)
• Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin used to champion diversity, but “his transformation has been striking” on the issue. (NYT)
• Federal investigators are “focusing on an air traffic control communications breakdown that led to a formation of military jets coming within seconds of colliding with a Delta Air Lines flight near Reagan National Airport.” (CNN)
• Trump’s plans for DC include “establishing the task force to increase police presence in public areas, maximize immigration enforcement, expedite concealed carry licenses and crack down on Metro fare evasion.” (NBC4 Washington)
• Popular Metro GM Randy Clarke is expected to stay on. (NBC4 Washington) Flashback: Our Ike Allen profiled Clarke late last year. (Washingtonian)
• Water providers in the region have no plans to remove fluoride, despite Health Secretary RFK Jr.‘s campaign against the additive. (NBC4 Washington)
• Leon Harris will step down from his job anchoring at News4 Washington. (News4 Washington) “On Thanksgiving Day, Harris appeared unwell during an evening newscast.” (WTOP)
• The Flavor Hive guys will open a brick and mortar restaurant in Annandale. (Alexandria Living) I totally got a selfie with one of those guys last week!
• Police in Montgomery County say Frederick Raphael Mayorga intentionally targeted a police officer he struck with his car and say Mayorga “replaced his profile picture on Instagram with a picture of the sergeant.” (WUSA9)
Wednesday’s event pick:
• Write a cherry blossom haiku and snack on sweet treats from Spilled Milk at Planet Word’s evening Wordplay event.
See more picks for this week and weekend from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.
Did you miss our 100 Very Best Restaurants List? It’s here.
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.
