Good morning. A pleasant day is ahead as we shake off summer’s dust: sunny and lovely with a high near 79. A low around 58 overnight. The Nationals will host the Marlins this evening. 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:
Stiff Little Fingers, “Suspect Device.” This tune by these Belfast punks turned 47 this year, and it still makes my ears shift from black and white to color every time I hear it. Stiff Little Fingers play the Black Cat tonight with the Attack and the Owners.
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:
Fake bruise: Internet sleuths who used their three-day weekends searching for clues that would prove President Trump is in poor health or has perhaps even died were dismayed, and some were even persuaded, by photos of him golfing at his club in Virginia Saturday. He plans a public appearance this afternoon for the first time in days. A constant stream of weirdness from the White House, notable even in the context of a very weird White House, helped fuel continued speculation, like this video of someone tossing garbage bags from an upper floor of the mansion. But the way you check on Donald Trump is not “is he breathing?” but “is he posting?”—and Americans of all political stripes may be relieved to hear the President hit the internet hard over the weekend, riffing about Hulk Hogan, his own health, and contractors who worked on his transformation of the Rose Garden into a patio. (Daily Beast via Yahoo!) California Governor Gavin Newsom continued his posting spree at Trump’s expense. (Gavin Newsom/Instagram) Still, the bruised hands, the weird changes in habit, the garbled speeches—”Put all of this together, and it’s clear that there’s enough smoke coming from the White House to warrant at least a major story in a major outlet investigating whether there’s fire.” (Doomsday Scenario)
Administration perambulation: Trump questioned the efficacy of Covid vaccines—which were developed when he was President and which he had previously praised. (Axios) His family made as much as $5 billion (on paper) with the launch of some crypto thing yesterday. (WSJ) Trump announced plans to give the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Rudy Giuliani, who was injured in a car crash over the weekend. (AP) “More than 445,000 federal employees saw their union protections disappear in August.” (NYT)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• A “We Are All DC” rally Saturday will be the latest opportunity for District residents to protest Trump’s takeover of policing in town.
• Fontaines D.C. and Racing Mount Pleasant are not from DC, which frankly we find a bit disorienting.
• They got engaged at Capitol Hill Books, and the theme of their wedding at the Hay-Adams was “quiet luxury.”
• This Labor Day wedding’s theme was “Mediterranean Napa,” and plants played a starting role.
Local news links:
• One of Trump’s claims over the holiday weekend was that the District is now a “CRIME FREE ZONE” thanks to him. That’s true—as long as you don’t count the 400-plus crimes reported over the past seven days. (Rolling Stone)
• Police say a person suspected of shoplifting at a Safeway in DC slashed an employee with a hatchet. (WTOP)
• A new ad campaign highlights the propensity of federal agents in DC to wear masks while carrying out Trump’s crackdown. Michael Fanone is a spokesperson for the group behind them. (NBC4 Washington)
• Parabon Nan0labs in Reston helped crack another cold case by identifying a suspect who had an identical twin, a first for DNA crime analysis. (InsideNoVa)
• School boards in Arlington and Fairfax sued the US Department of Education over its plan to deny them public funds following their refusal to adopt Trump administration-mandated policies regarding bathroom use. (WUSA9)
• Chester the Toucan, an Arlington bird who’s famous on TikTok, got rescued after he got stuck behind a dishwasher. (WTOP)
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.
