Good morning. Sunny and at times gusty today with a high around 83. Cloudy and gusty tonight, with a low near 65. The Capitals host Philadelphia tonight. The Nationals may look forward to another evening in Philadelphia. 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: Perfume Genius, “Me Angel.” Mike Hadreas and Alan Wyffels play the Lincoln Theatre tonight in a duo performance. 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 attacked an oil tanker off the coast of Dubai early today, and the US and Israel pounded Iran. The US hit Isfahan, the site of a nuclear facility. Two UN peacekeepers were killed in Southern Lebanon—another was killed yesterday—and more were injured. Iran warned it may attack US universities in the region. It destroyed an AWACS plane in an attack on a base in Saudi Arabia last week, which could degrade the US’s ability to monitor the situation. Italy won’t allow US planes to use a base in Sicily for attacks. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio “complained bitterly” about Spain’s refusal to help the US in its war against Iran. When will this end? President Trump has told aides he might end the war he started more than a month ago even if Iran doesn’t reopen to the Strait of Hormuz, abandoning yet another goal as his objectives shift again. (WSJ) At the same time, he threatened to strike energy infrastructure and desalinization plants in Iran, which would constitute a war crime. (Politico) Allies in the region have encouraged the US to continue to fight unless Iran’s leadership, which remains in power albeit in a fractured state, changes. (AP) Meanwhile, here at home, the average price of a gallon of gas nationally is now north of $4, increasing pressure on consumers. (NYT) The President’s “approval ratings have sunk to the lowest point of his second term.” (Politico) It probably won’t help matters that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth‘s broker at Morgan Stanley reportedly “attempted to make a big investment in major defence companies in the weeks leading up to the US-Israeli attack on Iran.” (FT) DH-mess: Most TSA workers received some back pay yesterday, but the Department of Homeland Security remains shut down, and Congress, which rejected a plan to fund it, skipped town last week. There’s no guarantee TSA workers will get another check in two weeks. (NYT) “More than 500 TSA workers have quit since the shutdown began and thousands more have missed shifts.” (Government Executive) Inside the administration, “people are thinking this will go into the summer.” (Politico) Trump has remained largely on the sidelines, giving “Democrats the upper hand to pin blame for the shutdown on the GOP.” (NBC News) House Republicans have figured out who to blame: Senate Republicans. (NOTUS) Administration perambulation: Florida is poised to rename Palm Beach International Airport for Trump. (ABC News) His eventual Presidential library, a planned skyscraper, could “loom over Biscayne Bay” in Miami. (Politico) The Department of Justice “quietly closed more than 23,000 criminal cases” during Trump’s first six months in office to focus on immigration cases. (ProPublica) US Representative Eric Swalwell of California sent a cease-and-desist letter to the FBI over Director Kash Patel‘s reported plans to release “decade-old investigative files involving the congressman’s purported ties to a suspected Chinese intelligence operative.” (Washington Post) ICE agents will lurk outside graduation events for Marines, hunting for undocumented family members. Thanks for your service! (NBC News) Rubio signed a cable yesterday that encourages US embassies to use Elon Musk‘s X to fight foreign propaganda. (Guardian) Some January 6 rioters have sued members of the police forces that protected the Capitol from their attacks. (Politico) DOJ’s press release about the four-year sentence Daniel Tocci got for possession of “more than 100,000 child sexual abuse images and videos” neglected to mention that he was one of the January 6 rioters Trump pardoned. (NBC News) Yet another one of those anti-Trump statues appeared on the Mall. It depicts a large marble toilet with golden appointments. (HuffPost) The US Army is looking into why two helicopters hovered over Kid Rock‘s house on Saturday. (AP) The US Supreme Court declined an opportunity to review the sentence of “Tiger King” Joseph Maldonado-Passage. (SCOTUSblog) A different peak bloom arrives, by Daniella Byck: Photograph courtesy of NOVA Parks/Bull Run Regional Park. Flower season comes in quick succession in DC: One day you’re the hot bloom on the branch, the next you’re just fallen petals stuck to the bottom of a shoe. The cherry blossoms are still clinging on for dear life, but you can also enter your Bluebell Period—if the dramatic, drooping flowers compel you. Bull Run Regional Park in Centreville has a 1.5-mile loop that moves through a section of the forest carpeted with bluebells, and the indigo flowers also decorate the Cedar Run shoreline at Merrimac Farm in Nokesville. For a celebration of all things bluebell, Riverbend Park in Great Falls will throw Bluebells at the Bend on April 11, an annual event with floral strolls, kid-friendly activities, and live music ($15). Recently on Washingtonian dot com: • Trump’s meddling in the arts in DC has been a benefit for the city…of Baltimore. •  These were the most expensive houses sold in the region last month. Local news links: • Longtime Republican campaign treasurer James Phillip Appel was indicted “on charges that he embezzled $200,000 from a politician and a community organization and funneled the money toward a luxury yacht.” Delegate Kathy Szeliga said she was the politician; the organization’s name has yet to be made public. (Washington Post) • Virginia will soon begin to take part in an administration plan that won’t allow people to use SNAP benefits to buy sweetened beverages. (WUSA9) • Three people are safe after their SUV ended up in a pond in Frederick yesterday. (Fox 5) • Someone made a bogus bomb threat against DEA’s Crystal City HQ. (ARLnow) • Yet another tree caused mayhem. This one fell on a house in Fairfax City. Fortunately, no one was hurt. (ABC7) • A driver plowed into a house in Arlington. No one was hurt. (ARLnow) • Someone knocked off a bank in Great Falls. (WTOP) • People can get married aboard Alexandria’s tall ship in May. (ALXnow) • Some Manassas residents oppose a plan to rename Manassas Regional Airport as “Washington Manassas Airport.” (WTOP) • Ack! Free evening and parking in Crystal City on weekends will end tomorrow. (ARLnow) • Snowcrete removal cost Arlington $4.5 million. (ARLnow) • It’s frog-watching season, my friends. (WTOP) • Someone (not me, dang it) bought a $1 million winning lottery ticket in Del Ray. (ALXnow) Tuesday’s event picks: • Madison Cunningham performs at Sixth and I. • “I Put a Spell on You: Nina Simone” opens at Signature Theatre. See more picks for today and this week from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.The post Airport Chaos Could Continue Into Summer, Supreme Court Won’t Free Tiger King, and Gas Prices Exceed $4 Nationally first appeared on Washingtonian. ...read more read less