Good morning. Hot and sticky with rain chances throughout the day and a high around 91. Rain is likely overnight, with a low near 68. The Nationals begin a four-game homestand against the Phillies this evening. You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @abeaujon.87 on Signal, and there’s a link to my ema il address below. This roundup is available as a morning email newsletter. Sign up here. I can’t stop listening to: Of Montreal, “Already Dreaming.” The psychedelic pop band is touring behind the release of its 20th—oh my goodness, I am getting old—studio album; they’ll play 9:30 tonight with CorMae. 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: Can’t fight this peeling anymore: President Trump announced that the Reflecting Pool would be drained and rehab work would begin anew after the blue coating he’d ordered applied to its bottom began to peel away from the base following an algal bloom that turned its water green. Trump blamed vandals for the peeling surface, and authorities spent the weekend “patrolling near the pool and issuing at least a handful of charges and citations to people” who picked up flaps of the now rather famous paint. (Washington Post) Our photographer was there and captured images of the peeling. (Washingtonian) The feds arrested David Hearn, a 67-year-old three-time Olympian who cycled by and says he felt a piece of the peeling surface. (Washington Post) Trump said multiple people had been arrested and that one person had “put a 250 foot long gash into the beautiful facade of what took so much work, competence and money to build and complete.” (WSJ) Move over, Sandwich Guy: US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro said her office would fully prosecute any vandalism cases. (Reuters) Pirro also floated the prospect of prosecuting ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl for touching the peeling paint during a broadcast last week. (NOTUS) Meanwhile: The administration granted a no-bid contract to clean the pool to Greenwater Services, an Ohio firm connected to Trump donor and Mar-a-Lago member John J. Cafaro. (NYT) Strait edge: A first round of peace talks with Iran ended this morning. As negotiators including Vice President JD Vance worked, Trump made threats on social media and Fox News that repeatedly “jolted” proceedings. (AP) Trump seemed exercised about reports that Iran plans to impose fees on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz and declared the US may seek tolls of its own from Gulf countries, “despite the U.S. military having no practical way to collect the charges.” (Washington Post) The parties “also agreed to a ‘de-confliction cell’ for making sure that military operations end in Lebanon.” (NYT) Touchy, touchy: Trump also flipped out on social media about a New York Times analysis that quotes experts who said very little has changed since Trump launched this war in late February, other than that Iran “is set to receive potentially substantial financial rewards.” (NYT) Trump called the reporting “‘TREASONOUS’ and said the article in question would be added to his lawsuit against the company.” (Hill) Oil prices rose, then fell after reports of progress on the deal. (WSJ) The average price of a gallon of gas in the US is now $3.929. (I got 25 cents off a gallon at a Sheetz in Pennsylvania yesterday after I scanned my app. It was my last fill-up after a long weekend of driving, dang it!) (AAA) Administration perambulation: Former Fed chair Alan Greenspan died today. He was 100. (Washington Post) Trump showed off the new Air Force One that Qatar gave him, calling the $400 million jet “a flying White House at a level of luxury that nobody has ever seen before.” (AP) Administration officials put the kibosh into an inquiry into Trump’s pardon of David Gentile, who reportedly “discussed making payments of $2.5 million or more to people or companies to help facilitate his clemency.” (NYT) The US killed two more people in a boat strike in the Pacific on Thursday. Six people survived, though it was not clear whether they’d been rescued. (AP) A flu outbreak has sickened almost 160 others at a training wing at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. Vaccine takeup among Air Force trainees has plummeted since April, when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made jabs optional. (NYT) The Department of Homeland Security will “scrap plans to use seven warehouses” it purchased under former Secretary Kristi Noem. Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz” facility is also expected to close. (WSJ) The Department of Justice refused to commit in writing to its stated plan to abandon Trump’s $1.8 billion slush fund for people who feel they’ve been victims of government “weaponization,” including January 6 rioters. (ABC News) Trump used superglue to apply gold accents to the White House walls, according to Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman‘s new book out tomorrow. (NYT) Rosie O’Donnell will be one of the guest hosts of Jimmy Kimmel‘s late-night show while Kimmel takes time off. (Page Six) Trump made a mysterious post over the weekend that showed a photograph of a woman who appears to be at Camp David. She appears to be Margo Catsimatidis, whose husband, John Catsimatidis, is a billionaire Trump backer. Their daughter Andrea Catsimatidis chairs the Manhattan Republican party. (New York Post) Trump cabinet members have embraced a diet heavy on fermented foods like sauerkraut despite “slightly sulfurous odors that have been the cause of some domestic friction.” (WSJ) The Best Thing I Ate Last Week, by Ann Limpert: Photograph courtesy of 7th Street Burger. I should have figured that the line for a pita sandwich at the Georgetown Yellow would be snaking out the door on Saturday (I mean, when is it not?). But my nine year-old was getting hangry so it was onto plan B: 7th Street Burger, the spartan, white-walled joint that arrived here from NYC in 2024. Even if you have smash-burger fatigue, the place is worth a visit for its ideal rendition of the style. Patties are lacy and crispy around the edges—so thin you’ll probably want to double up on them—and smothered in grilled onions, American cheese, and special sauce. The place is affordable, open late—until 3 AM on weekends—and a destination in its own right. (1424 Wisconsin Ave., NW.) Recently on Washingtonian dot com: • A new court filing shows that the Kennedy Center has made no efforts to book programs after July 5, despite a judge’s ruling that blocked a planned two-year closure of the arts complex. • Hikes and yikes: There’s a norovirus outbreak along the Shenandoah National Park section of the Appalachian Trail. • DC’s likely new mayor, Janeese Lewis George, is often compared to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Here’s how the two align and diverge on issues like housing, public transportation, and childcare. • Our neighborhood guide to shopping, dining, and entertainment around the Wharf. • We got an early look at the new museum that will open underneath the Lincoln Memorial this week. • Ideas for planning your Fourth of July activities. Local news links: New mayor? The Associated Press called DC’s mayoral primary for Lewis George Thursday. She’s very likely to be the District’s next mayor. (AP) Aparna Raj, another democratic socialist, won the Ward 1 Democratic primary. (WUSA9) Oye Owolewa won the at-large primary. (WUSA9) • NOTUS will not rebrand as the Star. The Robert Allbritton-funded outlet said it had “amicably resolved” a lawsuit with the owner of the Washington Star trademark and said a new name is TBD. (Sorry, sorry, couldn’t resist.) (NYT) • Federal prosecutors want more jail time for Sophie Roske, who got eight years for an abandoned plot to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. (Washington Post) • The National Park Service fenced off Dupont Circle Park on Friday ahead of DC’s Pride parade. (NBC4 Washington) • A “panel display” at the Lincoln Memorial that was part of a yoga event fell Friday and injured two people. (WUSA9) • US Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland may run for President. (NOTUS) • Police in DC say a National Guardsman witnessed a 14-year-old boy pistol-whipping someone in Columbia Heights. (ABC7) • The driver of a moped was killed Saturday when the driver of a car US Park Police say was fleeing a pursuit on the Rock Creek Parkway struck the moped on the Taft Bridge. The suspects were arrested after reportedly hitting another car and attempting to hoof it. (WUSA9) • Arlington’s Sarah Awad was a “breakout star” on the Netflix survival show “Outlast.” (WTOP) • Authorities located some giraffes that had been missing in Virginia since last year. (WTOP)The post Reflecting Pool Story Somehow Gets Stranger, Democratic Socialists Feast in DC Primary, and Missing Giraffes Located in Virginia first appeared on Washingtonian. ...read more read less