Good morning. Showers and thunderstorms today, with a high around 75. Rain continues tonight with a low around 62. The Nationals host the Guardians today. The NHL announced the schedule for the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs over the weekend. The Capitals’ next series, against Carolina, will begin Tuesday. The Mystics will play their home opener Wednesday. You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @abeaujon.87 on Signal, and there’s a link to my email address below.
If you need some ideas for celebrating Cinco de Mayo, we have a few for you here. And here are some food and drink specials.
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I can’t stop listening to:
Music on my phone and my computer, which is why I’m intrigued by the opera “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs,” which opened Friday, plays the Kennedy Center tonight, and runs through May 10. Watch the trailer here.
Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out:
Antics roadshow: President Trump had a fun weekend.
• On Sunday night he declared that Hollywood is dying and that he would impose tariffs on movies made outside the US, which led to the Wall Street Journal soberly pointing out that “It is unclear how such a tariff would work because movies aren’t physical goods.” (WSJ) Domestic box office is up this year. (Variety) He also said he would reopen Alcatraz, “to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders.” Alcatraz closed in 1963. (AP) The building is “totally inoperable.” (San Francisco Chronicle) What inspired this idea? Perhaps Trump’s recent animus toward judges, but a station in Palm Beach does appear to have broadcast “Escape From Alcatraz” over the weekend.
• NBC News aired an interview with Trump Sunday. Here’s the transcript. (NBC News) Asked if he was required as President to uphold the Constitution, he replied, “I don’t know.” (Politico) He didn’t rule out military action to take Greenland. (CBS News) He again brought up the idea that American children didn’t need so many dolls, and added that perhaps they need fewer pencils. (Acyn)
• Trump shared an AI-generated photo of himself as pope over the weekend. Catholic leaders are not especially thrilled about it. (Washington Post) The White House also posted a photo of a buff Trump holding a light saber on May 4. The light saber is red, which Star Wars fans pointed out is the color of villains’ weapons. (Axios)
Meanwhile, in the reality the rest of us must trudge through: Remember that Signal clone that Mike Waltz was photographed using? It got hacked. (404 Media)
• The administration informed many arts organizations it would terminate their NEA grants. (Washington Post) The cuts will affect theater programs like Central Park Summer Stage, arts centers, and literary orgs. NEA’s funding “amounts to 0.003% of the total federal budget.” (NPR) Trump proposed eliminating the NEA on Friday. (NYT)
• The administration is likely to announce a trade deal this week. (WSJ)
• The White House has made deep cuts to programs that study the health of LGBTQ people. (NYT) “More than a dozen data-gathering programs that track deaths and disease appear to have been eliminated in the tornado of layoffs and proposed budget cuts rolled out in the Trump administration’s first 100 days.” (AP) Student loan collections restart today. (NBC News) Trump’s skinny budget proposal would shift NASA’s mission to “an almost singular focus on getting astronauts to” the moon and to Mars. (NYT)
Administration perambulation: The CIA fired Terry Adirim, its chief doctor, after a far-right “provocateur” said she was “the ‘architect’ of the Pentagon’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate.” (NYT) The DOJ reached a settlement agreement with the family of slain Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt. (NBC News) A judge ruled that Trump’s executive order that targeted the law firm Perkins Coie was unconstitutional. (NYT)
The best thing I ate recently, by Ann Limpert
Vietnamese expat Yeanie Bach already runs a trio of well-liked banh mi shops in the Boston area. In mid-April, she made her way down to the Eden Center, Falls Church’s warren of Vietnamese restaurants, cafes, and shops, to open Banh Mi Oi. The plant-filled place is narrow and snug, and Bach’s menu is quite short. Here, she serves just six banh mi and a few coffee and tea drinks. The sandwiches are built on fresh, airy bread with shatteringly crunchy crusts, and layered with pickled veggies and ultra-fresh jalapeños and cilantro. I loved both the “signature”—packed with cold cuts and slathered with pate—and the version with sweetly marinated grilled chicken. (6795 Wilson Blvd., Falls Church.)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Eleanor Holmes Norton delivered a garbled speech at an Arena Stage event.
• Kata, “an Asian-fusion restaurant and cocktail bar that aims to double as a ‘sensory escape,'” has opened in Penn Quarter.
• “Both of our fryers are only filled with beef tallow”: Butterworth’s chef/owner Bart Hutchins dishes on his MAGA clientele.
• Ideas for celebrating Mother’s Day, which is this coming Sunday.
Local news links:
• Two planes scotched landings at National Airport Thursday after “an Army Black Hawk helicopter took a ‘scenic route’ near the flight path and circled the Pentagon.” (Washington Post)
• The 2027 NFL draft will be held on the National Mall. Trump plans to announce the news today. (Axios) The move “brings one of the NFL’s signature events to the nation’s capital and represents another vote of confidence by the league in the Washington Commanders.” (Washington Post)
Commonwealth corner: Winsome Earle-Sears, the GOP’s nominee for governor in Virginia, “took the unusual step last year of including a note of personal objection to a bill she was constitutionally required to sign”—a bill that prohibited denying marriage licenses to people based on their sex, gender, or race. (Virginia Scope) Governor Glenn Youngkin signed a bill that would limit Virginia teens to one hour of social media per day. (WUSA9) Youngkin also vetoed a bill that would make it more difficult to open data centers in Northern Virginia. (NBC4 Washington) Amazon’s data center biz bought nearly 100 acres in Leesburg. (WBJ)
• Katie Ledecky broke the women’s 800-meter freestyle record, which was set in 2016 by Katie Ledecky. (The Athletic)
• Two teenagers were killed in a car crash near the Pentagon on Saturday night. (ARLnow)
• Three corrections officers at a Virginia prison were stabbed Friday. (WTOP)
• Police say an Advanced Towing driver towed a car with a six-year-old child inside. (ABC7) Flashback: “Arlington Towing Company in Britt McHenry Video Has a Long History of Complaints.” (Washingtonian)
• The Q Street Barbies celebrated Star Wars Day. (PoPville)
• You can order a Stumpy bobblehead. (NBC4 Washington)
Know someone we should consider for our Tech Titans feature this year? Nominate them here. Did you miss our 100 Very Best Restaurants List? It’s here. The deadline for our Cutest Dog Contest has been extended until May 9.
Happy birthday, Uncle Dave!
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.
