Good morning. Sunny with a high around 94 and rising humidity today. The overnight low will be near 72. The Nats will play the Mets again this afternoon in New York. The Washington Freedom, the area’s Major League Cricket team, will play its first game of the season this evening with an away game against the San Francisco Unicorns. (Read about how cricket is booming in the ‘burbs here.) You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @abeaujon.87 on Signal, and there’s a link to my email address below.
This roundup is available as a morning email newsletter. Sign up here.
I can’t stop listening to:
Gipsy Kings, “Volare (Nel Blu di Pinto di Blu).” This chestnut brought down the house when I saw Gipsy Kings at Wolf Trap a couple of summers ago. Gipsy Kings featuring Tonino Baliardo play the Warner Theatre tonight.
Take Washingtonian Today with you! I’ve made a playlist on Spotify and on Apple Music of my daily music recommendations this year.
Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out:
Posse camo-tatus: Hundreds of the National Guard troops President Trump deployed to Los Angeles “have been trained to accompany agents on immigration operations” and are prepared to make arrests, according to their commander in charge. They’ll have a tricky line to walk, legally. (AP) The troops haven’t gotten paid yet “due to delays in issuing official activation orders.” (Military.com) ICE agents T-boned a car in LA, saying it was a “targeted arrest of a violent rioter who punched a CBP officer.” (KABC) They raided farms in Ventura County. (KABC) They raided a car wash. (Washington Post) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was unable to cite a law that allowed the administration to use troops domestically. (Politico) He said the US could send more troops to domestic locales. (Washington Post) Hegseth also declined to answer questions about Qatar’s gift of a luxury 747 for Trump to use as Air Force One. (Washington Post) California and the administration will square off in court today. Meet the judge in the matter. (Politico) Dallas, Omaha, Austin: Reports from some of the other cities where protests against the administration’s immigration crackdown are taking place. (NYT) Dozens of journalists have been “shot, detained and forced off public property” in LA, according to the Los Angeles Press Club. (HuffPost)
Mercury’s in cavalcade: Tanks in the street in DC. Troops on the ground in LA. This weekend will offer quite the split screen. (Washington Post) Senators avoided questions about the cost of the spectacle. (HuffPost) Documents show that “no fat soldiers” and certainly none with “political views that are in opposition to the current administration” were to appear behind the President during his appearance at Fort Bragg. (Military.com) Thunderstorms could be “numerous” on Saturday evening in DC. (Capital Weather Gang)
Abasement dweller: Elon Musk phoned Trump late Monday before he tweeted that he regretted his attacks on the President. VP JD Vance and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles have been looking for an off-ramp from the feud. (NYT)
Today’s resignations: All 12 members of the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board resigned yesterday, citing interference by the administration. (Washington Post) Read their statement. (Former FFSB) Tom McCarthy, the head of the Naval Academy’s history department, “resigned after reportedly being ordered by the academy’s superintendent to remove a previously approved paper from the list of those to be presented at an upcoming symposium.” (Baltimore Sun)
Climate news: Climate.gov appears “likely to be shuttered after almost all of its staff were fired.” (The Guardian) Jeremy Greenberg, who runs FEMA’s storm responses, will resign. (CBS News) EPA administrator Lee Zeldin “labeled efforts to fight climate change a ‘cult'” while announcing regulatory cuts for power plants. (NYT)
Administration perambulation: The “big accomplishment” of Trump’s “deal” with China “appears to be merely returning the countries to a status quo from several months ago.” (NYT) Health Secretary RFK Jr. brought a bunch of people with colorful histories onto a CDC panel he emptied of public-health experts. (AP) The CDC has rehired 400 people the administration laid off. (Politico) Secretary of State Marco Rubio fired the remaining US AID staffers who worked in embassies. (AP) Rand Paul said the White House “uninvited” him from a picnic. (NBC News)
Hidden Eats, by Ike Allen
Most of northern Virginia’s large Bolivian diaspora comes from the mountainous west of the country. But Bolivia’s largest city, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, is hundreds of miles from there, in the tropical lowlands—and totally different in culture and cuisine. Likely the only eastern-style Bolivian restaurant in town is Camba Cafe, which serves “delicias del oriente,” a distinctive set of foods available nowhere else in the DMV, in a Falls Church strip mall. Check out the baked goods cabinet in particular: empanadas de arroz, a Camba peculiarity, are squishy patties made from rice, yuca, and cheese, sandwiched together with a banana leaf wrapper. Cuñapes (crispy, cheesy, bouncy rolls made with yuca flour) will be familiar if you’ve ever tried pão de queijo—and remind you that Bolivia shares its longest border with Brazil. (7177 Lee Highway, Falls Church)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Elegant appetizers, sometimes disappointing mains: Ann Limpert reviews the Occidental.
• Four ways to avoid the parade.
• Road closures for the parade.
• Henceforth, which opened last month on H Street, Northeast, offers a sophisticated take on brewpubs.
• Rain couldn’t bruise the vibes at this California-inspired wedding.
Local news links:
Disaster of the house: Trump got booed at the Kennedy Center last night when he attended a preview of “Les Miserables.” (Washington Post) Others cheered the President and chanted “U-S-A.” (NPR) Attendees included Laura Loomer, Maria Bartiromo, and Corey Lewandowski. (Playbook)
• The Washington Post named Economist reporter Adam O’Neal as its new opinions editor. (NYT)
• A man was still atop a radio tower in DC late Wednesday. (Washington Post)
• CASA director Gustavo Torres plans to leave his job this fall. (Bethesda Today)
• Flavor Hive will have multiple brick-and-mortar locations in the region soon, thanks to a deal with Michael & Sons owner Basim Mansour. (WBJ)
• How do you pronounce ARLnow? I like to say it like with a pirate’s growl. (ARLnow)
Thursday’s event picks:
• The DC/DOX Film Festival opens with a showing of “Steal This Story, Please!” at Woolly Mammoth.
• A Wrinkle in Time opens at Arena Stage.
• There’s an all-ages outdoor bingo event at the Yards.
See more picks from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.
We’re now taking suggestions for this year’s “Most Powerful Women” list. You can nominate someone here. Know someone we should consider for our Tech Titans feature this year? Put their name forward here. 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.
