Photo illustration by Emma Spainhoward with photograph by Getty Images.
Good morning, and welcome back. Sunny today with a high of 44 that will feel colder due to wind. We’ll get some wintry mix overnight, with a low around 30. The Wizards host Milwaukee tonight. 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:
Hayden Pedigo, “Elsewhere.” This Texan square peg makes gorgeous fingerpicked guitar music and ran awild race for city council in Amarillo, and if he lived here I’d probably find a reason to write about him every few months. Pedigoplays Union Stage tonight withJen Kuross.
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:
Department of war crime: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a verbal order to kill survivors of an airstrike on a boat in the Caribbean in September, the Washington Post reported Friday. Such an order would appear to be a war crime. (Washington Post) Members of Congress—including Republicans—said they would increase scrutiny on the administration’s deadly strikes on boats it claims were transporting drugs to the US. (NYT) Hegseth denied the report, and President Trump stood by him. (Washington Post) Under Hegseth, the Pentagon has taken up the cause of Trump’s retribution campaigns. (Washington Post)
The next war: The US appeared to move closer to military action in Venezuela over the weekend. Trump declared the country’s airspace closed over the weekend. (CNN) He then “told reporters not to ‘read anything into it’ when asked whether the warning suggested an imminent strike.”(Fox News) During a call with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro last week, Trump gave the strongman an ultimatum to leave the country. (Miami Herald) Trump confirmed that he’d spoken to Maduro. (Reuters)
DC shooting: A deadly shooting in downtown DC last Wednesday continues to reverberate nationally and locally. West Virginia National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom died on Thanksgiving, and Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe remains hospitalized. Trump increased the number of troops he’s deployed to DC and vowed to pause migration from some countries in response. (Washington Post) The suspect in the shooting, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, “had been unraveling for years.” He had worked for a CIA-backed Afghan Army unit and came to the US in 2021 under a program called Operation Allies Welcome. (AP) His alleged motive is not yet clear. (Politico) The DC police and other local police forces could patrol alongside Guard members. (WUSA9)
Administration perambulation: Trump’s immigration crackdown will come to New Orleans today. (AP) Congress has less than a month to fix the Obamacare subsidies cliff and figure out how to fund the US government. (Punchbowl News) Trump said he would release results of an MRI he had in October but said he didn’t know what part of his body was scanned. (AP) Trump pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández over the weekend; Hernández had been convicted of being at the center of a conspiracy to bring large amounts of cocaine into the US. (NYT) Trump said he has chosen the next chair of the Federal Reserve. The term of the current chair, Jerome Powell, ends in May. (Axios) The administration deported US college student Any Lucía López Belloza to Honduras when she attempted to fly to Texas from Boston to visit her family. (NYT) The White House spent part of Thanksgiving weekend launching a “media bias tracker.” (Washington Post) The administration has withdrawn 57 nominees, a rate that’s “the highest since at least the Ronald Reagan presidency.” (Politico) A juicy account of Lindsey Halligan‘s tenure atop the Eastern District of Virginia, which might be over? (CNN) Melania Trump launched a film production company; an Amazon-backed documentary about her will debut next month. (Deadline) US Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey got married. (NYT)
The Best Thing I Ate Last Week, by Ann Limpert:
Photo by Ann Limpert.
Every year has its own menu cliché, whether a beet-and-goat-cheese salad or cacio e pepe or a bulb of burrata. This year, tuna tartare has been particularly inescapable. That said, the best version I’ve had in a long time can be found at Rose’s Luxury. You’re served what looks like a simple half avocado. Dig your spoon into it, and you’ll find a tartare that’s electric with flavor—besides high quality tuna, passionfruit and salt are what makes this one so good. (717 Eighth St., SE.)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Here’s some help with planning your charitable donations this holiday.
Some beautiful weddings: A Virginia wedding with an “enchanted garden meets Hollywood” theme. A fall vineyard wedding with lots of terracotta. A “dreamy, extravagant, enchanting” wedding with an indoor forest.
Local news links:
• Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser won’t run for reelection, ending more than a decade atop District politics and opening the way for a race to succeed her. (Washington Post) Bowser said she might try this thing she’s heard about called “brunch.” (NBC4 Washington) Her successor will face a substantially different DC Council as well. (WTOP)
• The DC Council could hold up the implementation of ranked-choice voting next year. (Axios D.C.)
• The Washington Commanders lost to Denver in overtime last night. (Washington Post) Still, Treylon Burks had an incredible catch that you really should watch. (NFL on NBC/YouTube)
• Mario Bustamante Leiva pleaded guilty to stealing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem‘s purse at a DC restaurant earlier this year. He’s a native of Chile and is likely to be deported. (Washington Post)
• Trump says he plans to “fix” the Reflecting Pool. (The Hill)
• Alexandria’s Hadi Kamara will be a Rhodes Scholar; he graduated from high school in 2019 with a 2.08 GPA, joined the Air Force, went to NOVA, transferred to Princeton, and plans to seek a master’s in public policy at Oxford. (NBC4 Washington)
• Santa was spotted on the National Mall. (Washingtonian Problems/Instagram)
Senior editor
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.