Photo illustration by Emma Spainhoward with photograph by Getty Images.
Good morning. Rain, winds, and maybe even snow today as temperatures plummet—by 2 PM, the high temperature will only be around 36. O March, we curse thy treachery! Clear overnight with a low near 32. The Wizards visit Orlando tonight, and the Capitals visit Buffalo. 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:
Amythyst Kiah, “In the Pines.” The hotly tipped Tennessee folk/Southern Gothic artist plays a free showat the Library of Congress’s Thomas Jefferson building this evening.
Take Washingtonian Today with you! I keep ridiculously long playlists on Apple Music and on Spotify of this year’s music recommendations. Here are 2025’s songs (Apple, Spotify), too.
Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out:
War news: US strikes in Iran continued yesterday, and Iran struck three more ships in the Persian Gulf overnight. Iran said oil could hit $200 a barrel. (CNBC) Oil already passed $100 a barrel yesterday due to Iran’s constant attacks. (AP) Those attacks, and the US’s reluctance to send US Navy ships to protect ships that pass through the Strait of Hormuz “are raising the prospect of a prolonged closure that would choke off exports through the world’s most important energy-transport route.” (WSJ) After President Trump, who started this war, promised to sell insurance to ships in the region, US officials “called London insurers and brokers, trying to figure out how the market operates.” (WSJ) Trump authorized the US to release oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve—it’ll come online in about 120 days, so early July. (Axios) The national average gas price is now $3.598. (AAA)
What is it good for: Iran’s leadership “is not at risk of collapse any time soon after nearly two weeks of relentless U.S. and Israeli bombardment,” according to US intelligence sources. (Reuters) The Pentagon told members of Congress that Trump’s war, now in its 13th day, cost more than $11 billion in its first six days. (NBC News) A US investigation has found the US was culpable in an attack on an elementary school that killed 175 people. Trump has suggested Iran somehow fired a US-made missile at the school and when pressed on what really happened said, “I don’t know about that.” (NYT) The school was “on a U.S. target list and may have been mistaken for a military site.” (Washington Post) The US is using AI systems developed by Palantir to choose targets. (NBC News)
Meanwhile: The Pentagon banned photographers from war briefings “after they published photos of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that his staff deemed ‘unflattering.'” (Washington Post) The FBI told California police departments Iran may launch drone strikes there. (ABC News) The influential and usually Trump-friendly podcaster Joe Rogan called the war “crazy.” (NYT) After a video call between Trump and other G7 leaders, French President Emmanuel Macron “declared publicly what others had said privately: no one can tell what Donald Trump wants from this war.” (Axios)
Epstein, Epstein, Epstein: One persistent question about the deceased, disgraced financier Jeffery Epstein is how he got so rich. US Representative James Comer of Kentucky, the Republican who heads the House Oversight Committee, said yesterday that Epstein’s accountant Richard Kahn gave the committee names of people who “allegedly contributed to the late convicted sex offender’s fortune.” (Politico) Comer also said the Justice Department thwarted an investigation into Epstein’s New Mexico ranch during Trump’s first term. (MS Now) Iran published a propaganda video that used Lego to depict Trump firing a missile at an elementary school after he read the contents of the US government’s files on Epstein. (Independent)
Administration perambulation: The Justice Department’s U-turn on dropping its defense of Trump’s legally shaky executive orders against big law firms followed “an angry outburst” by Trump. (WSJ) The administration asked the Supreme Court to let it lift Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of Haitians in the US. (NYT) DOJ appealed a judge’s ruling that forbade the government from accessing devices it seized from Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson. (Washington Post) The VA plans to force legal guardianships upon homeless veterans. (NYT) Trump told House Speaker Mike Johnson “no one gives a [bleep] about housing” when they discussed the prospects of the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, imperiling a “carefully crafted Senate package.” Trump is instead focused on a voter-ID bill, the SAVE America Act. (Punchbowl News) Two police officers who defended the US Capitol from an attack by Trump’s supporters on January 6, 2021—one of them is Harry Dunn, who is running for Congress in Maryland—argued in court that a plaque honoring them that was quietly installed over the weekend is “Hidden from all visitors.” (Washington Post)
Perambulation, continued: Remember Julie T. Le, the government lawyer who told a judge in Minneapolis “This job sucks”? She intends to challenge US Representative Ilhan Omar in a Democratic primary. (NYT) DHS keeps making social media posts with white supremacist themes. The identity of the person who makes these posts is well-known within MAGA world—but “sources immediately clam up” when asked about identifying the memelord. (The Verge) A UN panel said Trump’s “racist hate speech” has led to “grave human rights violations” in the US. (AP) The administration will investigate the EU, China, and other large trading partners “as it works to resurrect a system of tariffs recently struck down by the Supreme Court.” (NYT) The White House apparently did not learn of a police report that included allegations of rape by Louisiana GOP congressional hopeful Blake Miguez before Trump offered Miguez his “Complete and Total Endorsement.” (Atlantic) Retired Air Force Major General William Neil McCasland, who had led the UFO-linked Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, has been missing for almost two weeks. (CNN)
Hidden Eats, by Ike Allen:
Photograph by Ike Allen.
Ananda Kitchen in Langley Park is an unusual setting for great vegetarian Indian food: a mish-mash of a dining area shared with a Charley’s Cheesesteaks and adjoined by a raucous Central American bar blasting bachata music. But that just means you can snack on perfectly crisp oversized dosas and yogurt-slathered chaat—served on Charley’s Cheesesteaks placemats—to the tune of “Medicina de Amor.” (8046 New Hampshire Avenue, Hyattsville)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• We spoke to attendees at BlerDCon, a gathering to celebrate Black nerd culture that took place in Crystal City last weekend.
• Sebastien Salomon will open Itiyah, DC’s first-ever Haitian fine-dining restaurant, in Shaw this summer.
• The cherry blossoms are on their way, so make plans for your cherry-blossom-inspired afternoon teas now.
Local news links:
• Dorothy McAuliffe, whose husband, Terry McAuliffe, was previously Virginia’s governor, launched a campaign for Congress. (Washington Post) The “lobster” district she seeks to represent doesn’t yet officially exist. (Axios Richmond) Nancy Pelosi endorsed McAuliffe. (Punchbowl News)
• The DC Council sued Mayor Muriel Bowser to gain access to budget documents. (Washington Post)
• Police in Prince William County say two teenagers were responsible for a deadly shooting at a basketball court in Dumfries, Virginia, earlier this week. (WTOP)
• The Washington Commanders released renderings of their planned new stadium. (WBJ)
• A bypass system DC Water set up to divert sewage from the collapsed Potomac Interceptor is reportedly leaking. (WTOP) Repairs could cost $30 million. (WUSA)
• The cherry blossoms got to the first stage of peak bloom yesterday. (NBC4 Washington)
Thursday’s event picks:
• This month’s National Gallery Nights event has a spring theme.
• The SHE:DC curated art show opens in Dupont Circle.
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.