Good morning. Diabolically sunny, hot, and humid today, with a high around 102 that may feel as hot as 110. A low near 81 overnight. Today is the midpoint of 2026. They had us in the first half, I’m not gonna lie. But I feel good about our chances. I’ll spend too much of today thinking about Mal ik Tillman‘s astounding goal for the USMNT last night, and I wish you a fun and happy Independence Day weekend. Washingtonian Today will return Monday. Hot deal: Today through this weekend, you can get the lowest price we offer for a print subscription: $4. You’ll get our Top Doctors issue, our 100 Very Best Restaurants issue, and so much more for less than the price of a container of sauerkraut. Subscribe now and support local journalism! Sports today and this weekend: The Mystics host the Atlanta Dream at CareFirst Arena tonight. The Washington Spirit host the Houston Dash at Audi Field Friday. The Nationals host Pittsburgh Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Loudoun United FC hosts Sporting Jax at Segra Field Friday. The Washington Freedom plays the San Francisco Unicorns in Pomona Saturday. Get your tickets now to Best of Washington—Washingtonian’s premier food and drink celebration—which features top local restaurants, unlimited tastings, and an open bar. How well do you know the District? Play our new geography game and test your local knowledge. 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: Katy Perry, “California Gurls.” My pre-Independence Day stringout of songs about the United States concludes with this kandy-kolored tangerine-flake tune, which oozes the joyful excess that I can’t help but love about this country—from Jeeps to short shorts to Snoop Dogg. So what if Perry ended up with a former Canadian prime minister? That just proves she understands the vital role North American free trade plays in our hemisphere. 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: The fort of July: Good morning from Washington, DC, where President Trump has “turned portions of the city into either a construction zone or an armed camp as he seeks to prove that he alone can improve a city he interacts with primarily from his armored limousine or presidential helicopter.” (NYT) Dig out those N95 masks you scored during the pandemic if you’ll be near downtown on July Fourth—National Park Service documents estimate that the President’s planned massive fireworks display will turn the air “very unhealthy.” (Washington Post) And that fenced-off Reflecting Pool that was the site of Trump’s botched renovation attempt? The work was  “done with highly toxic materials” that “could cause serious harm to the local wildlife.” (New Republic) At least you can buy a $25,000 “Presidential Package” to watch fireworks from the Kennedy Center, which has no programming booked from Sunday onward, even after a judge blocked the closure its Trump-stock board had planned. (Axios D.C.) Financial independence day: Hundreds of thousands of crypto wallets lost money on Trump’s memecoin. But he and his family made really good money off it. (NYT) The President flew to North Dakota yesterday on a luxurious new version of Air Force One paid for by Qatar’s government. “You can low key it or you can show it,” he said before boarding. (Politico) FBI Director Kash Patel failed to properly disclose a six-figure investment in MicroStrategy, which has a contract with the Department of Justice. The oversight was inadvertent, officials say. (NOTUS) Here are some important ways Trump’s financial interests intersect with government business. (NYT) Administration perambulation: The US’s drawn-out peace talks with Iran are “a stalemate that favors Tehran’s well-worn playbook of drawing out negotiations and putting off any concessions.” (WSJ) ICE has arrested more than 10,000 people in the last week as it institutes another immigration crackdown in response to a White House request. (NYT) Another federal judge put the kibosh on the US Postal Service’s plans to restrict mail-in votes. (Reuters) On the day that US Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was hospitalized last month, “Paramedics responded to a report of a ‘cardiac arrest” for an ‘unconscious’ person” at an address known to be his. (NBC News) Administration officials are mulling policies that could include banning pregnant women from visiting the US in the wake of Trump’s big Supreme Court defeat on his attempt to ban birthright citizenship. (Politico) The CDC is looking for the cause of an outbreak of cyclosporiasis, a type of food poisoning that causes some rather unpleasant digestive system effects. (News Nation) Hidden Eats, by Ike Allen: Photo by Ike Allen. No restaurant in the DMV has quite as many preparations of bullfrog as RH Bistro, a sharp-looking Chinese restaurant in Falls Church with a very serious menu of Sichuan, Shanghai, and Hunan specialties. But some favorites from a recent trip there with my family were on the tamer side: a hot pot full of still-sizzling florets of Chinese cauliflower and slices of pork belly; delicate shumai stuffed with savory sticky rice; and a mound of spicy and mouth-numbing chicken thighs, potato wedges, leeks, dried chilies, and cilantro served over broad wheat noodles, named simply: “Xinjiang Big Plate Chicken.” Take Hidden Eats with you! Our new map will show you which out-of-the-way mom-and-pop eateries Ike has highlighted near you. Recently on Washingtonian dot com: • The Park at 14th will pay a hefty fine for labor law violations after an investigation by DC’s Office of the Attorney General found the popular nightclub failed to provide paid sick leave for years, illegally classified some of its workers as independent contractors, and retaliated against employees who objected. • Trump’s diminution of the Voice of America will be difficult to reverse, many of its former journalists say. • Oribu, a luxurious new restaurant from chef Joevel Magpantay that opened in the Grand Hyatt downtown yesterday, fuses Japanese and Mediterranean cuisines. • Panamanian coffee joint Café Unido has opened a new location in Buzzard Point. • Interior designers share tips for keeping your house cool this summer. • Help Fido cool down! Here’s a list of dog-friendly beaches a short drive from DC. Local news links: • The US Department of Justice sued the commonwealth of Virginia over its new ban on so-called “assault weapons.” (Courthouse News) • Fairfax muckety-mucks are bandying about the prospect of a new convention center in Tysons at the site some once envisioned as a casino. (WTOP) • The DC National Guard will leave its longtime HQ at the DC Armory, saying it needs to do so to make way for redevelopment at RFK. (DC News Now) • Jing Sheng Dong, the bus driver accused of causing a deadly crash on I-95 in May, pleaded not guilty to manslaughter counts yesterday. His trial is scheduled for October. (WUSA9) • An Arlington cop was charged with malicious wounding for an incident in May that was just reported. (DC News Now) • A Burke woman “apparently suffered a medical emergency” while driving on Arlington’s Lorcom Lane yesterday and later died. Her vehicle hit a parked car and possibly a tree, authorities say. (ARLnow) • Fairfax authorities recounted a dramatic rescue in Chantilly Sunday, when they pulled someone from a sinking car. (DC News Now) Weekend event picks: Thursday: The Phillips Collection’s “summer fiesta” starts at 5 PM. Friday: “The Playground,” a new interactive installation from the people who brought you the giant ball pit, opens at the National Building Museum. Saturday: Parade and fireworks. Not feeling the downtown brouhaha? Here are some tips on how to watch fireworks from the water, despite everything, here are tips on where to watch fireworks away from the Mall, and here is a guide to celebrations away from the crowds in DC. Sunday: It’s the Capital Jewish Museum’s family day. See lots more picks for this long weekend from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.The post Downtown DC Is Now the Fort of July, DOJ Sues Virginia, and an Outbreak of Really Unpleasant Food Poisoning Strikes the Nation first appeared on Washingtonian. ...read more read less