Photo illustration by Emma Spainhoward with photograph by Getty Images.
Good morning. Mostly sunny today with a high around 51. A low near 29 overnight. The Wizards host Denver 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:
Caylee Hammack, “Redhead.” A ginger wail from this Georgia artist and author! Hammackplays the Anthem tonight and tomorrow withEric Church.
Take Washingtonian Today with you! I’ve made a playliston Spotify andon Apple Music of last year’s music recommendations. I’ll make one for 2026 soon.
Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out:
The trip of the iceberg: President Trump claimed he’d reached “the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland” amid talks with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Details are, as usual, scant, but are likely to fall far short of his demands that the US own the territory. (Washington Post) Rutte said the question of whether Greenland would remain a sovereign territory of Denmark “did not come up.” (Reuters) Ever the master negotiator, Trump had already backed off the threat of military action and, apparently spooked by the stock market dip prompted by his manic drive to acquire Greenland, also done a U-turn on his threats to impose tariffs on the US’s putative European allies. (AP) Flashback (to Monday): The US already has the right to reopen more than a dozen military bases on Greenland. (NYT) Trump said his “deal” involves mineral rights. (CNBC) Trump gave a factually innovative speech at Davos that suggested his grasp of Greenland’s history may be a bit loose. (NYT) The speech “did little to reverse a deepening sentiment among NATO leaders and other longtime allies that they can no longer consider the United States — for 80 years the linchpin of the transatlantic alliance — a reliable ally.” (Politico) Meanwhile: The administration hopes to impose regime change on Cuba by the end of the year. (WSJ)
The ICE storm: The administration launched another immigration crackdown, this time in Maine, where it’s targeting Somali immigrants. (NYT) ICE has quietly circulated a memo that asserts, falsely, that its officers don’t need a judicial warrant to bust into people’s homes. (AP) A federal appeals court lifted a restriction that prevented ICE from using pepper spray and other aggressive tactics on people protesting the agency’s operations in Minnesota. (NYT) The El Paso County medical examiner ruled the death of Geraldo Lunas Campos in ICE custody a homicide. (Washington Post) ICE agents detained a five-year-old boy in Minnesota Tuesday, reportedly directing the child to knock on his family’s door so they could get to people inside. (MPR News) Democrats on the Hill plan to oppose a plan to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE. (Washington Post) Hakeem Jeffries, the Democrats’ leader in the House, won’t whip the vote, though. (American Prospect)
Administration perambulation: The Supreme Court appeared likely to block Trump’s attempts to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. (NYT) A federal judge in Virginia barred the US from examining materials it seized from Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson‘s home in Alexandria last week. (Washington Post) FCC Chair Brendan Carr plunged back into the politics of network talk shows, ordering producers to grant equal time to political candidates. (Politico) Jack Smith plans to tell Congress today that Trump “engaged in criminal activity after the 2020 election,” which he lost to Joe Biden. (Axios) Prosecutors in New York’s Southern District are being “crushed” by the workload of reviewing documents regarding the disgraced, deceased financier Jeffery Epstein. (Politico) The House Oversight Committee voted to hold Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton in contempt after they defied a subpoena from the panel, which is investigating the Epstein affair. (NPR) Trump could begin to fly around on the luxury jet Qatar gave him as soon as this summer. (WSJ)
Hidden Eats, by Ike Allen:
Photo by Ike Allen.
Finally, some good news: Keren, everyone’s favorite Eritrean diner, has reopened in Adams Morgan after a fire shuttered the place nearly two years ago. I stopped by recently to find the digs renovated but the breakfast combo the same as ever: fluffy scrambled eggs, warmly spiced ful, and shredded kitcha bread stir-fried in butter, all sprinkled with minced tomatoes, onions, and jalapeños. For a moment there, everything felt pretty much right with the world. (1780 Florida Ave., NW.)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Now comes the hard part for Washington National Opera and the Kennedy Center: Divvying up assets like the opera’s $30 million endowment. Rebecca Ritzel goes inside the divorce.
• How many of our 100 Very Best Restaurants have you visited? Take our quiz.
• DC had the most nominations for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic at this year’s James Beard Awards. Here’s a list of all the local semifinalists.
• Here’s what we know so far about the snowstorm forecast for this weekend.
• Some DC restaurants will extend Winter Restaurant Week. Here’s a list.
Local news links:
• US Representative Andy Harris could lose his job if Maryland adopts a new congressional map championed by Governor Wes Moore. (Washington Post) State Senate President Bill Ferguson still opposes the idea. (Maryland Matters)
• A lawsuit and two bills in Congress take aim at Trump slapping his name on the Kennedy Center. (CBS News)
• “Queer Eye”‘s final season, which is set in our area, debuted yesterday. (Washington Post)
• The FBI linked two more of the 1980s Colonial Parkway murders in Virginia to deceased suspect Alan Wade Wilmer Sr. (NBC News)
• Fairfax could still get a massive casino. (WTOP)
• Former DC council member Vincent Orange may run for mayor. (Mark Segraves/X)
• Onetime “FBoy Island” star Mark Moran announced he would challenge Virginia US Senator Mark Warner for the Democratic nomination. Warner’s up for reelection this year; no date has yet been set for a primary. (ARLnow)
• Washington Post games critic and all-around good human Gene Park has cancer again. You can donate to a GoFundMe for him. (Gene Park/X)
• Jon Bernthal was spotted at Filomena. (PoPville)
Thursday’s event picks:
• Folger Theatre’s Reading Room Festival returns with Shakespeare-themed staged readings, panel discussions, and workshops.
• Jennette McCurdy is at Sixth and I. You can still snag a virtual seat to see her talk about her new book, “Half His Age,” with Kelsey McKinney.
See more picks from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.
Join the conversation!
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.