A singular question loomed over Washington this week as some of the globe’s most powerful leaders gathered for NATO’s 75th anniversary summit.
Washington, D.C
Surprised by Tony P’s NATO video? He was too.
A Reddit user was not impressed. “Like what was the point of this?” they wrote. “Is this the only spokesperson DC could find? With all the unemployed international policy folks, this is who we use to do this work?”
A poster on X was puzzled as well, saying, “career diplomats being ousted for a media job by a 25 year old bachelor in dc. what in the world.”
To be fair, even Tony P, a.k.a. Anthony Polcari, was surprised.
“They want to work with me? Like, an influencer guy? I couldn’t believe it,” Polcari said in a phone interview Wednesday. “Really, just — I’m blown away by it. And, you know, any way I can help was just really cool for me.”
Polcari, who said he wasn’t paid for the video, is one of several dozen social media influencers invited by NATO, the Defense Department and the State Department to be a part of the high-level summit. As the alliance faces growing questions about its future, it wants to better explain its mission and bolster its image with young people who may have only a vague understanding of why it was formed.
Polcari said NATO reached out to his agent a few weeks ago. After he got over the shock of the request, he read the short script and jumped on board. The video was filmed on a blazing hot June day in front of various Washington landmarks as Polcari, boiling in a dark blue suit, delivered his lines without letting anyone see him sweat.
He thinks he may have been asked because he has become a more visible face in the District as his Instagram following — where he chronicles his bachelor life in aggressively inoffensive videos — has swelled from about 2,000 people a year or so ago to more than 200,000.
“They wanted someone who could showcase D.C., who was an influencer, you know, in the D.C. space,” Polcari said. As if on cue, a woman in the background could be heard yelling out, “Tony P!”
But not all of his Instagram followers were pleased with his new tie to NATO.
“I hate this so much,” one wrote. Another posted a vomit emoji.
On X there were more jabs:
“God, this is embarrassing. You got to be kidding me …”
“Congratulations! This is the worst thing I’ve ever seen!”
“D.C. really needs better local celebrities.”
Polcari shrugs off the naysayers.
“There’s some people saying that I’m one of those hated influencers in D.C. That’s just not true,” Polcari said. “It’s funny, the fact that people will take time out of their day to crap on me for doing a NATO video made me kind of laugh. Because I use the old line from the show ‘Mad Men’: ‘I’m not thinking about you, but you’re thinking about me.’”
Negativity has no place in Tony P’s world.
“I want to create a space for fun and positivity where people can come together,” he texted after the interview.
WASHINGTON (7News) — An ice cream truck caught fire in Southeast D.C. on Thursday, the D.C. Fire and EMS Department said.
The commercial vehicle was reported fully engulfed when crews arrived in the 1700 block of Tobias Drive SE.
SEE ALSO | Man, woman injured in Southeast DC double shooting
Firefighters quickly put out the flames and prevented the fire from spreading to nearby buildings.
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No injuries were reported.
WASHINGTON (7News) — The Catholic archbishop of Washington, D.C., Cardinal Robert McElroy, on Wednesday removed a well-known priest as an exorcist of the archdiocese after he made public comments suggesting that UFO sightings were the work of demons.
McElroy said the archdiocese also was cutting ties with the St. Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal, a Washington-based nonprofit headed by the priest, Monsignor Stephen Rossetti.
The archbishop said Rossetti’s statements “linking UFOs to demonic presence and the Center’s recent use of social media gravely undermine the Church’s very precise teaching on the devil, demons and exorcism.”
“There’s a danger here,” Rossetti said in a May 29 video posted on his Facebook page addressing UFO sightings and the existence of aliens. “As an exorcist I wanted to raise that danger. And that is that demons like to hide. … They don’t want us to know what they’re doing because they’re more effective when we don’t realize it.”
“They can kind of get into your head, you know, and manipulate things in the world to influence us to do evil.”
“It’s my personal belief that probably many if not most of these UFO sightings are in fact demons,” Rossetti added.
Rossetti also said that people can be good Catholics and believe there’s life on other planets, though he does not personally believe life exists elsewhere.
In a statement posted on the St. Michael Center website, Rossetti said he was saddened by the action of the archdiocese.
“I ask forgiveness for any ways that I have not been faithful to the teachings of the Church’s Magisterium, particularly in the cited video on ‘aliens and the demonic,’” he said. “I believe it is of the utmost importance to be obedient to the Church and I will continue to endeavor to subject all that I do and the Center to be thus obedient.”
Rossetti, who has over 148,000 followers on Instagram, is a prominent psychologist as well as an exorcist. His center has specialized in offering spiritual healing for priests troubled by various difficulties.
In 2023, he told The Associated Press there was increasing and renewed appetite for information about demonic possession and exorcism.
Washington, D.C
Nurses at Washington D.C.’s largest hospital call on leadership to reverse planned cuts to maternal health
RNs at MedStar Washington Hospital Center say closure of postpartum unit will disproportionately harm marginalized and underserved communities
Union nurses at MedStar Washington Hospital Center (MWHC) in Washington, D.C. are demanding that management stop the planned closure of an entire postpartum unit, announced National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU). The hospital notified the union on May 26, 2026 of its intention to eliminate 11 maternal health beds and displace eight nurses by July 26, 2026, leaving MWHC with one postpartum unit.
In a follow-up town hall with staff nurses, Chief Nursing Officer Ariam Yitbarek confirmed the closure. Other leaders have additionally informed staff that the hospital will strictly limit scheduled C-sections and inductions for patients from numerous D.C. maternal health organizations. The list of organizations includes many that primarily serve low-income patients, immigrants, and patients of color, all communities with significantly higher risks of maternal mortality. Additionally, staff were informed that Kaiser Permanente, which notably insures a large number of DC city employees and even many of MWHC’s own workers, will see a strict limit on scheduling inductions and C-sections for their patients as well.
“Closing postpartum unit 5F will gravely impact those most affected by health disparities,” said Stephanie Sims-Coates, RN in the neonatal intensive care unit. “Our low-income families and families of color will be most affected by this closure. Families trust the medical staff at MWHC and plan to come to us for their care. In a city where Black women make up 90 percent of pregnancy-related deaths despite being only half the population, the hospital’s decision to close this unit is a significant mistake.”
Community leaders and healthcare workers are joining the call for MedStar to put patients before profits and keep the unit open. This past weekend, nurses met with D.C. mayoral candidate and Ward 4 councilwoman Janeese Lewis George about the planned closure and the impact it would have on DC’s most vulnerable residents.
“Maternal mortality is a crisis for Washington, DC, and our healthcare system needs to address the crisis immediately, rather than exacerbate the challenges that birthing parents face,” said Councilwoman Janeese Lewis George. “Now is the time to invest in health care, rather than make cuts. I want to work with the hospital to identify solutions that work for patients and the provider.”
“In my time at Washington Hospital Center, I’ve seen the hospital tout its Safe Moms, Safe Babies program and host a community baby shower specifically designed to call attention to the maternal mortality crisis,” said Marcqueata “Tiya” Butler, RN in the Mother/Baby unit. “Their current plan to shut down 11 postpartum beds betrays the hospital’s stated commitments. They are aware of persistent inequities in access to care. We are calling on the hospital to consider the impacts on the community, safeguard the mothers and infants of DC and commit to addressing the maternal mortality rate.”
In 2024, MedStar Health, a registered non-profit, reported $9 billion in operating revenue.
NNOC/NNU represents more than 2,200 registered nurses at Washington Hospital Center.
National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with more than 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.
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