Good morning. Cool this morning, warming up to what looks like a very pleasant day, with a high around 76. A low near 54 overnight. The Nationals will face the Marlins in Miami today. They won yesterday, as did the Commanders, so it’s a pretty good morning! 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:
The Brian Jonestown Massacre, “Anemone.” Some Mondays require a tune that’s loud and groovy. The Brian Jonestown Massacre plays the 9:30 Club tonight with Flavor Crystals.
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:
The city that lurks: President Trump fashioned another threat against a US city on his Truth Social website over the weekend, posting a meme of himself as Robert Duvall‘s character in “Apocalypse Now” and writing “I love the smell of deportations in the morning… Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR 🚁 🚁 🚁.” It’s not clear whether Trump actually plans to send troops to Chicago, as he did in Los Angeles and DC. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker called the President a “wannabe dictator.” (AP) Trump yelled at a reporter who asked him whether he planned to go to war against Chicago (which seems like a reasonable question under the circumstances?). He replied, “We’re not going to war, we’re going to clean up our cities.” (NYT) Meanwhile, here in DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser said she believed her strategy toward Trump, which included ordering the DC police to cooperate with federal law enforcement indefinitely, paid off when the House of Representatives declined to extend Trump’s 30-day takeover of the police force, which is scheduled to end this week. But: “Bowser would still be powerless to stop roadside checkpoints and raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. National Guard troops are still expected to patrol the city for months.” (Washington Post) Thousands of DC residents marched against Trump’s takeover on Saturday. Sandwich Guy iconography was everywhere. (Washington Post) And in Maryland, where Trump has also threatened to deploy troops Governor Wes Moore appeared to choose his words carefully when he said he was “not running for President.” (NYT)
That’s the way the ball bounces: The US Tennis Association ordered broadcasters to censor unfavorable reactions to Trump when he attended the US Open men’s final yesterday, but people there booed Trump with vigor anyway. (NYT) Match time was pushed back and attendees at the match faced numerous delays due to security from Trump’s visit. (AP)
Maybe switch to decaf? Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatened to punch fellow administration official Bill Pulte “in the fucking face” at a dinner at DC’s Executive Branch club last week. The men have reportedly clashed over plans to privatize Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, which are in Pulte’s portfolio. (Politico) In April, Bessent got in a shouting match at the White House with now former Trump pal Elon Musk. (Axios)
Administration perambulation: South Korea will repatriate hundreds of workers detained in a massive immigration raid at a Hyundai battery plant in Georgia on Friday. (AP) “On Saturday, LG said it had restricted its employees’ travel to the United States and advised staff already in the country on business trips to stay inside their accommodations or return to South Korea.” (NYT) House Speaker Mike Johnson tweaked his claim that Trump’s long friendship with disgraced, deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein was due to Trump being an “FBI informant,” saying Trump was “willing to help prosecutors.” (Washington Post) Trump has plastered his name on signs at sites where work is taking place due to President Biden’s infrastructure bill, which he vehemently opposed at the time. (NYT)
The best thing I ate last week, by Ann Limpert:
Paolo Dungca recently transplanted his mod-Filipino dining room Kayu from H Street to a cozy little space in Dupont. And, I’m happy to say, the flavors are just as electric. Take the opener for my dinner—a trio of ube-tinted bao buns holding chorizo patties, pickled-papaya slaw, and special sauce. Delicious, and a nice throwback to another hit Dungca production: the much-missed burger stand Pogiboy. (1633 17th Street, NW.)
Local news links:
• Two teenagers were arrested and accused Friday of the fatal June shooting of Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, an intern for US Representative Ron Estes of Kansas. US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro said the shooting proved her office needed more authority over teens, who by law are prosecuted by DC’s attorney general in juvenile court. (Washington Post) A third suspect is at large. (NBC4 Washington)
• Trump had a peace vigil that’s been outside the White House for decades dismantled after a reporter from a conservative outlet asked him about it and called it an “eyesore.” (AP)
• Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears has leaned into culture-war themes in the commonwealth’s gubernatorial race as Election Day approaches. Meanwhile, her opponent, Abigail Spanberger, has emphasized the effects in Virginia of Republicans’ economic policies under Trump. (Washington Post) Related: Cuts to personnel at the Defense, Treasury, and Agriculture departments account for more than half of all the administration’s job cuts to the federal workforce. (Federal News Network)
• A judge in Virginia’s Eastern District dismissed Arlington and Fairfax’s suit against the Department of Education, which ordered a freeze to federal funds after the counties’ school districts refused to comply with Trump administration demands over bathroom policies. They can refile the suit elsewhere; an attorney for the counties said Alexandria and Loudoun were likely to join the action. (NBC4 Washington)
• Davey Johnson died Friday. The former Nationals and Mets manager was 82. (Washington Post) Flashback: Our 2012 story on how Johnson got his gig with the Nats. (Washingtonian)
• 20009 is DC’s wealthiest Zip code. (Alas, Washingtonian’s office is in the demonstrably less snappy 20006 Zip code.) (WBJ)
• Some Montgomery County Public Schools staffers say they still haven’t been paid for work done over the summer. (BethesdaToday)
• Legendary DC reporter Lou Chibbaro, the subject of a recent documentary, looks back on nearly 50 years of journalism. (Washington City Paper)
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.
