Good morning. Hot, hot, hot today with a high around 96 and heat index values around 103. A low around 76 tonight. The Nationals are at the Astros this evening. 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:
LaRussell, “Give Me a Beat!” It’s Monday, it’s days into a heatwave, and couldn’t we maybe use a party-starter? It’s a good thing the Bay Area rapper LaRussell will play this evening at Sycamore & Oak.
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:
It’s still all Epstein: President Trump “is increasingly frustrated with how his administration’s handling of the furor around the Jeffrey Epstein files has dominated the news and overshadowed his agenda.” (Washington Post) Epstein’s former associate, the convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, met for two days with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Maxwell wants a pardon, a prospect about which Trump mused, “I’m allowed to do it, but it’s something I haven’t thought about.” (NYT) Some of Trump’s MAGA allies have softened on Maxwell lately. (Washington Post) But House Speaker Mike Johnson said Maxwell deserved a longer sentence than the 20 years she got. (Fox News) New headache alert: Norm Eisen and his group Democracy Defenders Fund “have filed an expansive Freedom of Information Act request with the Justice Department and FBI, demanding the release of all Epstein-related files reviewed by AG Pam Bondi, her deputy Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel and his deputy Dan Bongino.” (Playbook)
The windmills of his mind: Trump got the framework for a trade deal with the European Union while he visited Scotland this weekend. (NYT) The Wall Street Journal editorial board isn’t impressed by it. (WSJ) European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen traveled to Trump’s Turnberry resort to put a bow on the deal, which will require 15 percent tariffs on many items. (Steel and alcohol are still up in the air.) But Trump remained focused on a longtime obsession throughout the weekend: windmills. (Politico) A little history: Trump has hated windmills for many years, and highlights of the one-sided feud include an appearance before the Scottish Parliament in 2012 when, asked for evidence of the horrors of the machines that he cited, Trump replied, “I am the evidence.” (The Guardian)
Playing defense: The White House ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to stop using polygraph tests on staffers he suspected of leaks to the media. (Washington Post) The secretary’s allies have “implored Hegseth in private conversations to rethink surrounding himself with people the White House distrusts.” (Politico)
Administration perambulation: Nearly a billion dollars allocated to modernizing ICBMs appears to have been diverted toward renovating a 747 Qatar is giving Trump. (NYT) About 20 percent of NASA’s workforce has opted to leave under the administration’s deferred resignation initiative. (NPR) “Hope Yer Next Jobby Is a Hedgehog”: A roundup of Scots protest signs during the President’s visit. (I’m happy to translate—”Jobby” is Scottish slang for a poop.) (Axios) Video that appeared to show Trump cheating at golf made a splash. (The Independent) Trump found time during the weekend to call for the prosecution of Beyoncé over something he imagines happened. (CNN)
The best thing I ate last week, by Ann Limpert:
At Tim Ma’s pandemic-born Arlington carryout Lucky Danger, you’ll find straightforward versions of General Tso’s chicken and orange beef. There’s a new sit-down location in Penn Quarter—a narrow dining room, bar, and mahjong parlor—and the food is markedly cheffier (and better). My favorite dish from a long meal of hits, which included sticky spicy beef with mint and fancy crab rangoons, was a giant plate of lo mein tossed with hunks of Maryland crab and a cool, creamy sauce conjured from leeks and kaffir lime. Best crab I’ve had so far this summer, actually. (709 D St., NW.)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Cedric Maupillier‘s lounge-y and luxe new French-Mediterranean restaurant Barbouzard opens tomorrow on K Street.
• Here’s some of what you can see at the renovated Air & Space beginning today.
• Ice cream shop owners say hot weather is actually not great for business.
• Our favorite bites at last week’s Best of Washington party.
Local news links:
• That study everyone wrote about last week that claimed the DC area has worse traffic than LA? It’s based on old data that paints an incomplete picture. (I recently spent two and a half hours driving from Laurel Canyon to El Segundo, so I am sympathetic to this argument.) (Washington Post)
• The National Transportation Safety Board will begin hearings this week on January’s air disaster near National Airport. (WUSA9)
• The DC Council could vote today to change a law that dates to 1710 that allows people to sue over gambling losses. (Washington Post) Martin Austermuhle wrote about this weird topic, and the shadowy LLC that made it an issue, in June. (The 51st)
• The Education Department is targeting school districts in the city of Alexandria and in Fairfax, Arlington, Loudoun, and Prince William counties, which it claims violate federal law via policies that allow “transgender students to use bathrooms and other facilities that match their gender identity.” (Washington Post)
• The administration nominated Darren Beattie, “who was fired as a White House speechwriter during the first Trump administration for attending a gathering of white supremacists,” to run the U.S. Institute of Peace. (NYT)
• The mess in Purcellville politics, explained. (WTOP)
• The administration placed two NOAA officials on leave last week. They led the investigation into “Sharpiegate.” (Washington Post)
• Police in Fairfax say an armed robbery at Tysons was a ruse designed to make it easier to steal some Pokemon cards. (NBC4 Washington)
• “You can either stop using marijuana or you can stop rapping”: A judge addressed the rapper No Savage‘s continued use of weed while he’s on probation after opening fire in Tysons in 2022. (NBC4 Washington)
• Groundhog spotted in Capitol Hill. (PoPville)
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.
Correction: An earlier version of this post mangled the name of Democracy Defenders Fund.
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.
