Good morning. Sunny today but colder, with a high around 52. A low near 38 overnight. The Capitals visit St. Louis tonight. 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: Hieroglyphics, “You Never Knew.” The Oakland hip-hop collective founded by Del the Funky Homosapien plays Union Stage tonight. 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: Iran sent “multiple waves of missiles” toward Israel, and Israel bombarded the suburbs of Beirut. (AP) President Trump extended a deadline he set for bombing Iran’s energy infrastructure over the weekend that sent already rising oil prices skyward, claiming the US and Iran were in talks to end the war he started. Tehran “publicly denied that any negotiations about terms to end the war were underway, and American officials said the contacts were in a very early stage and not substantive.” (NYT) Trump appears to have been referring to back-channel discussions that took place last week between Iran and officials from some Arab countries. (WSJ) If Trump ends his war soon, he “would essentially cede control of the key energy choke point of the Strait of Hormuz to Tehran,” his former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said in an interview. (Politico) Hmm dot dot dot: “SP 500 futures and oil futures flashed an unusual burst of activity” just before Trump’s reprieve announcement yesterday. (CNBC) Oil prices climbed back up this morning. (WSJ) The average price of a gallon of gas in the US rose to $3.977. (AAA) Meanwhile, in the homeland: The US Senate confirmed its own member Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma as the new leader of the Department of Homeland Security yesterday. He’ll be sworn in today. (Politico) DHS remains unfunded, a situation that dates back to Valentine’s Day. Senate Republicans left a meeting with Trump yesterday “with a noticeably upbeat demeanor” about talks to end the standoff, despite Trump blowing up progress they made previously. (Punchbowl News) The NTSB’s investigation into a deadly crash at LaGuardia Airport late Sunday was delayed by long lines at airports. (NYT) ICE agents appeared in US airports yesterday. For the most part, they didn’t wear masks. (NYT) And just like many of the National Guard members Trump deployed here in DC, many of the ICE personnel appear to be standing around. (Defector) The idea to deploy them appears to have taken a curious route to reality, from a caller to a right-wing radio show in Arizona to a segment on Fox News, to the President’s social media feed. (Media Matters for America) Money is Noem object: Fired DHS chief Kristi Noem spent $20K to rent horses and nearly $4K on hair and makeup costs for her $220m advertising campaign that featured herself. (New York Post) Mail order: The US Supreme Court “appeared likely to embrace a conservative challenge to tallying mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day” during a hearing yesterday about election law in Mississippi. (Washington Post) Trump is a longtime critic of mail-in voting, and some of the court’s conservatives asked “a series of questions about out-there doomsday election scenarios entirely unrelated to the legality of Mississippi’s deadline.” (Balls and Strikes) Meanwhile, Trump, who calls mail-in voting “cheating,” posted a ballot to Florida. (NBC News) Playing defense: The Department of Defense, smarting from a court ruling that invalidated its new rules for journalists, announced it would reissue credentials to news organizations that refused to abide by them but would move correspondents to a building outside the Pentagon. They’ll need escorts within the building. (Washington Post) “Independent reporting on the U.S. military is not optional,” the National Press Club said in a statement yesterday. (Axios) Meanwhile, the Associated Press awaits the outcome of a different case, currently in appeals, stemming from its refusal to change its style guide to conform with Trump’s desire to rename the Gulf of Mexico. (AP) Administration perambulation: The administration will pay a French company nearly $1 billion not to build wind farms—a particular obsession of Trump’s—off the East Cost of the US. The company, TotalEnergies, agreed to spend that money on “oil and gas projects in the United States” instead. (NYT) Trump is likely to miss CPAC, which will take place near Dallas later this week. (Time) A new lawsuit filed yesterday aims to halt Trump’s planned renovations and closure of the Kennedy Center. (Washington Post) Judges in New Jersey named yet another interim US Attorney, but due to consultations beforehand, the Justice Department appears unlikely to fire this one. (NYT) Trump will install black-granite pavers on the West Wing colonnade. (NBC News) DNI Tulsi Gabbard hopes to move In-Q-Tel, the CIA-backed venture capital fund, away from the agency’s control and into her office. (Politico) Jeff Webb, the “father of modern cheerleading” who was a mentor to Charlie Kirk, died after a “freak pickleball accident.” (New York Post) Cherry blossoms minus the crowds, by Daniella Byck: Blooms at Stanton Park. Photograph courtesy of Washington.org. The Tidal Basin cherry blossoms hit the puffy white stage yesterday. It’s their fifth and last stage before peak bloom, which now should occur this week. We’ve got a lot of resources for you here at Cherry Blossom HQ, from themed tea services to where to see blooms away from the main loop (and the accompanying crowds). My personal favorite spot is Stanton Park, a green space in a Capitol Hill traffic circle that transforms into a cloud of flowers. If you can’t wait for peak bloom among the Yoshino trees around the Tidal Basin, take a spring stroll among the Okame trees, the vibrant pink flowers with an earlier bloom date. Currently, they’re treating us to a petal party at Congressional Cemetery in Hill East, Long Bridge Park in Arlington, and along the waterfront at National Harbor. Recently on Washingtonian dot com: • Terrific new restaurants, fun things to do, a snapshot of the real estate market: Here’s our neighborhood guide to Arlington. • Oh, you think your cat is cute, do you? Prove it. Local news links: • A US Park Police officer driving in an unmarked car was shot in DC last night in what cops called an ambush. (Washington Post) • The administration’s planned removal of a bike lane on 15th Street, Northwest, is on hold because of a lawsuit by the Washington Area Bicyclist Association. (Washington Post) • If you’ve ever wanted to own your own DC streetcar, you’ll soon have the opportunity to do so. (Axios D.C.) • A tree fell on Piney Branch Parkway and damaged several vehicles. Trees! They are a menace. (WUSA9) • Wow: “A professional cornhole player who’s also a quadruple amputee is facing murder charges after a deadly shooting in Charles County, Maryland, over the weekend.” (NBC4 Washington) • There’s still snowcrete in Arlington, and it’s really grody. (ARLnow) • This is just an excellent column on the collision between Trump’s aesthetic sensibilities and the architectural philosophy that has shaped the DC area. (Washington Post) Tuesday’s event picks: • US Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey discusses his new book, “Stand,” with Ali Vitali at Sixth and I. • Lady Gaga plays the second of two shows at Capital One Arena. See more picks from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.The post White House Deploys More People to Stand Around, This Time in Airports; DC Cyclists’ Suit Pauses Bike Lane Demolition; There’s Still Some Snowcrete in Arlington first appeared on Washingtonian. ...read more read less