Good morning. Hope you enjoyed yesterday’s weather sampler platter. (Turns out it was part of a national trend of bizarre weather.) Today will be considerably less conversation-starting: Breezy, increasing clouds, high around 55. A low near 41 tonight. Sports this weekend: The Washington Spirit ho st Portland Thorns FC in their season opener Saturday. (Here’s our season preview.) The Capitals host Boston Saturday. The Wizards visit Boston Saturday. D.C. United visits Chicago Saturday. Have a great weekend, and may your Oscar ballot bring you success. 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: Toni Braxton, “Un-Break My Heart.” I do not mind telling you that this scorcher is one of my favorite songs of all time. Braxton plays Capital One Arena tonight with New Edition and Boys II Men. 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: A US KC-135 refueling plane crashed in Iraq yesterday, apparently the result of an accident with another Stratotanker. (Washington Post) Four of the plane’s six crew members have died. (AP) A French soldier was killed in an attack on a base in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region. (France24) An airstrike hit a demonstration in Tehran today. (AP) The USS Gerald R. Ford, an aircraft operating in the region, had a laundry room fire that didn’t hinder its operability. (Navy Times) Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new supreme leader, vowed to attack US bases in the region as President Trump‘s war in Iran approaches the two-week mark. (CNBC) Persian gulp: The International Energy Agency said the war had prompted “the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.” (NYT) Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Trump had temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian oil that’s at sea in a bid to keep a lid on energy prices, which are soaring due to his war. The decision “will provide a huge financial boost to Russia,” whose sales of oil have increased. (Washington Post) Bessent also said the US Navy would escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has vowed to close, “as soon as it is militarily possible.” (Sky News) At least 16 ships have been attacked in the Persian Gulf since the start of the war. (NYT) Markets have retreated, and Brent crude traded for $101 a barrel. (AP) Administration officials depict fuel price rises as temporary, but high prices will likely persist for a while. (Politico) Multiple sources tell CNN the administration “significantly underestimated” threats to oil supplies. (CNN) The politics of it all: Trump claimed Iran is “about to surrender” in a call with G7 leaders. (Axios) Israeli officials don’t believe Iran’s regime is likely to fall anytime soon. (WSJ) Trump wants “hawks to believe the campaign continues, wants markets to believe the war might end soon and his base to believe escalation will be limited,” an adviser said. (Reuters) Vice President JD Vance opposed the war but is now “fully on board.” (Politico) Meanwhile, on the Hill: The Senate passed a big, bipartisan housing bill in hopes of addressing Americans’ grave fears about affordability. (NBC News) Trump is intensely focused instead on a voter-ID bill, and the pressure he’s applying ” is driving a wedge between” him and Senate Majority Leader John Thune. (Punchbowl News) Administration perambulation: TSA screeners will miss their first full paychecks of the shutdown as the Department of Homeland Security shutdown nears the one-month mark, with no progress in sight. (Politico) Trump nominated Sarah Rogers to lead the US Agency for Global Media after a federal judge invalidated Kari Lake‘s tenure there. (NBC News) An arbitrator ruled that the Social Security Administration must restore telework for many workers. (Government Executive) A Department of Justice press release yesterday referred to “President Trump’s Justice Department.“ (Law Dork) Trump has a memecoin (I’ll trust you to figure out what that is, because I do not care) and has advertised a lunch with him for top investors. (Politico) FBI agents will train with UFC cage fighters, FBI Director Kash Patel announced. (WSJ) US Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama posted that “the enemy is inside the gates” after NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani hosted iftar at City Hall. (Washington Post) Recently on Washingtonian dot com: • Fun, complicated, disruptive: A preview of the IndyCar race coming to the Mall this summer. • Corner Bites in Rockville is a terrific new dim sum spot that doesn’t have carts—on purpose. • The Commodore will open an Alexandria location today—bringing its “five-star dive bar” concept to Old Town. • The Old Raj Martini at Eebee’s, the “Elixir of Immortality” at Lucky Danger: Here are lots of our favorite cocktails around town. • Mozzarella sticks are staging a comeback at area bars. Welcome news! • The Washington Post has introduced “algorithmic pricing” for subscribers. What could that mean? • Here are some ideas for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. Local news links: • Top DC strategist Juleanna Glover asked Jeffrey Epstein for help solving a problem for her client Elon Musk and “made a brief attempt to fashion him into a champion of democracy.” Glover says she corresponded with the now-deceased, disgraced financier to gain “information that could sink Trump’s reelection,” but “there are no emails between Glover and Epstein that show her soliciting information from him about Trump.” (Politico) • US Army Lieutenant Colonel Brandon A. Shah is dead and two other service members were wounded in a shooting at Old Dominion University in Norfolk yesterday. The gunman, Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, was also killed; he was convicted of attempting to aid ISIS in 2016 and was released in 2024. (NBC News) • Jeff Bezos briefly paid attention to the Washington Post yesterday, hosting an Amazon-style meeting for Post machers at his Kalorama mansion. (Ben Mullin/X) • Georgetown University’s College Republicans posted, “Let’s Be Honest: Muslims have no place in American society” and then deleted the post. The university condemned the post and said it’s “reviewing this matter.” (NBC4 Washington) • A federal judge said he’d rule soon in a bid by US Representative Joyce Beatty of Ohio to halt Trump’s planned closure and renovation of the Kennedy Center. The center’s board, which is filled with handpicked Trump appointees and okayed slapping his name on the building, will “consider” the proposed closing Monday. There may be some vigorous debate about how hard they can approve it, I suppose? (WTOP) • You have until March 22 to view a piece of a slave ship that’s been on display at the National Museum of African American History and Culture since 2016. The artifact will return to the South African museum that loaned it; museum deputy director Michelle Commander says the transaction was long-planned and is unrelated to Trump’s zeal to revamp Smithsonian exhibits. (AP) • A falling tree killed a driver on the GW Parkway yesterday. It’s the second time such a death has occurred on that roadway in a year. (NBC4 Washington) A driver hit the living room of a house in Germantown; two residents were upstairs and unhurt, and two people inside the vehicle were injured. (ABC7) A driver hit a dog daycare in Potomac and ended up in its swimming pool. (MoCo Show) A car police say was stolen crashed into a tree near the Jefferson Memorial following a pursuit. (WUSA9) Cops say the man who drove his van through a barricade near the White House Wednesday told them he was “there to deliver a present for the president.” (WUSA9) • Police say a man walking his dog on the Sligo Creek Trail was attacked by someone who hit him in the head with a rock. (BethesdaToday) • Prosecutors say Deyon Hampton Jr. threw dynamite into an occupied DC apartment on February 14, and they “expressed shock that no one was seriously injured.” (WUSA9) • Arlingtonians could pay more in taxes if commercial properties continued to lose value, County Manager Mark Schwartz said. (ARLnow) • Nathan Tate, a former DC cop who was knocked to the ground while helping to defend the US Capitol from a riot by Trump supporters on January 6, 2021, now teaches history in LaPlata. (Fox 5) Weekend event picks: Friday: Awesome Con kicks off. Saturday: The Ireland at the Wharf party gets things going for St. Patrick’s Day next week. Sunday: The Press Club record bar collaborates with Mexico City’s Licorería Limantour for a cocktail event. See lots more picks for the weekend from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter. Bonus event pick from me: My former coworker Rin-rin Yu will talk about her new book, “Goodbye, French Fry” with my current coworker Kate Corliss at the Chinese American Museum Saturday afternoon.The post DC Strategist’s Emails With Epstein Go Under the Microscope, Oil Prices Will Likely Be High for a While, and Jeff Bezos Briefly Paid Attention to the Washington Post first appeared on Washingtonian. ...read more read less