Washington, D.C
White House Fumes at Giant Epstein Birthday Card in D.C.
A towering protest piece on the National Mall recreating President Donald Trump’s alleged birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein has the White House fizzing—and tourists lining up to sign it.
The 10-foot-tall by 12-foot-wide replica card appeared early Monday on Third Street NW between Jefferson and Madison drives, with a National Park Service permit allowing it to remain through Friday, according to The Washington Post.
“We have certain things in common, Jeffrey,” the message reads. “Enigmas never age, have you noticed that?… Happy birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
Trump, 79, has denied writing or drawing any part of the original note and insists the “Donald” scrawl is not his signature. He has already sued The Wall Street Journal and its parent companies over their report revealing the card.
Epstein, who died in prison as he awaited trial in 2019, would have been 73 on Wednesday.
In front of the placard on the National Mall, a stack of marble-look blocks mimics a filing cabinet labeled “The Files,” with drawers spilling hundreds of paper strips, a nod to the heavily redacted and still-unreleased Epstein files that the Justice Department has so far failed to release in full under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
A box of Sharpies invites visitors to sign the “card to the administration,” and the messages have generally not been positive.
Inside the West Wing, the mood was less playful. “Kudos to these Trump Deranged Liberals for constantly inventing new ways to light Democrat donor money on fire by spreading fake news,” deputy White House press secretary Abigail Jackson wrote in an email to the Post on Monday, questioning when statues would appear of Democrats she said had Epstein ties.
The blown-up birthday note is the latest clash between Trump and the Secret Handshake. The same group was behind a 12-foot bronze-painted statue on the Mall depicting Trump and Epstein holding hands and skipping.
It was installed with a permit but was pulled early by U.S. Park Police, prompting censorship complaints.
On their permit application for the birthday-card piece, the artists wrote that they wanted “to highlight the conversation about President Donald Trump’s friendship and relationship with Jeffrey Epstein using his own reported language and correspondence,” and to draw attention to Epstein files that remain redacted or unreleased.
Under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed into law on Nov. 19, the Justice Department had 30 days to release all its Epstein records. But it missed the Dec. 19 deadline, has disclosed only a fraction of the trove, and now faces bipartisan accusations of flouting Congress’ mandate.
By midmorning on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Mall was quiet and only a handful of messages dotted the card—most of them hostile to Trump. “Looking forward to your jail sentence, DJT!” one read. “The people will rise. We already are,” said another, according to the Post.
D.C. resident Susan Fritz, 61, told the paper she liked that the artists “didn’t have to make anything up,” adding, “They just had to blow it up and put it out here.”
Others treated it as a strange civics lesson. “It shows that someone lived in a very different world from the rest of us at some point,” Anders Williams, 45, said. “It’s just weird.”
Another visitor, Ying Yong, 33, called it “great” and “hilarious.” A federal worker, declining to give her name, chose to reply in black Sharpie with a Martin Luther King Jr. quote: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
Washington, D.C
Police search for suspect caught on camera slashing tires in Georgetown
Washington D.C. police are searching for a vandal who was caught on surveillance video slashing the tires of multiple vehicles in a Georgetown alley on Tuesday afternoon. The suspect, who fled the scene on a red bicycle, targeted a Chevy Suburban and a Ford Escape on the 1700 block of 35th Street Northwest.
Washington, D.C
Reflecting Pool being drained – again – as Trump administration tries once more to fix DC landmark – WTOP News
Crews began draining the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Sunday, according to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, for the second time in three months.
(CNN) — Crews began draining the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Sunday, according to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, for the second time in three months.
In an interview released Tuesday with Katie Miller, a conservative podcaster and wife of President Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, Burgum said they started draining the pool as planned after the July Fourth fireworks show, noting some of the fireworks debris was still in the water.
Asked about the schedule for this round of renovations, he gave no specifics beyond a broad overview.
“Drain the water. Clean up the fireworks stuff. Repair the vandalism that was done. Fill it back up again,” Burgum said.
As of Tuesday evening, there was still water in the pool, and it was unclear if it will be drained further. Burgum indicated over the weekend that it may only need to be partially drained.
The move comes after weeks of problems – algae blooms, green-hued water, a chipping bottom and allegations of vandalism – have plagued the iconic landmark, making its woes the subject of a national fixation.
Members of the Trump administration, including President Donald Trump, have said vandals caused damage to the Reflecting Pool by gashing the lining, though they have not provided evidence to support that claim. In late June, the president said the pool would be drained after the July Fourth holiday to fix it.
The administration will use the same contractor, Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings, for this next round of repairs. Previously, the company landed a no-bid contract worth more than $14 million for their part of the work – sealing the pool and painting the bottom “American Flag- blue.”
Asked about the timeline for his part of the repairs, Eddie Gross, owner of Atlantic Industrial Coatings told CNN that “nothing has been set yet.” He declined to answer questions about his contract and the cost of additional repairs.
The Department of Interior did not respond to questions about the timeline for this round of repairs.
Burgum, in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday, suggested the repairs could happen with the pool only being partially drained. He sought to portray the costs as minor.
“It’s going to be a small number because the majority of the work was related to the labor and the materials for the liner,” Burgum said.
“We’ll use the same company, because they did a fantastic job,” he said.
Burgum also said the government could “absolutely” prove the damage was caused by vandals, and that there are photographs supporting the claim. But he dodged a question about whether those photographs show anyone damaging the pool.
The secretary also denied that Trump having his motorcade drive through the pool mid-renovation in May did any damage to the site.
“No, I was with him when we came that night … We were driving in a Cadillac Escalade. It is one of the presidential fleet of cars,” Burgum said, adding that the vehicle Trump took on the ride was “substantially lighter” than the armored presidential limousine known as “The Beast.”
“The whole base level of this industrial rubber layer was not yet completed, and so there was no damage that night whatsoever,” he said. “That was one of the questions we asked before we even brought the presidential motorcade there, but not a chance.”
The other contractor involved in the project, Greenwater Services, previously told CNN that when the pool is drained it will not affect their system, which is up and running.
Chas Antinone, the president of Greenwater Services, told CNN the company can shut down and then restart the so-called ozone nanobubbler, as necessary.
Companies involved in the renovation have found themselves at the center of national news as Reflecting Pool issues continued.
The-CNN-Wire
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Washington, D.C
DC is second riskiest city for driving, Allstate says
D.C. is the second riskiest city for driving, an insurance company report says.
Allstate said it looked at the number of crashes, how often they happen and certain types of behavior behind the wheel.
“On the phones, bike lanes, people on motor scooters having no regard for the law,” one driver told News4. “It is risky, yeah. I’ve seen a lot of close calls.”
The average driver around D.C. goes just about four years in between collisions. Drivers in the least risky city — Brownsville, Texas — go about 15 years in between collisions.
D.C. also got dinged for bad driving — like being on phones a lot — and plenty of nighttime driving, which increases risk.
Allstate analyzed property damage claims from January 2023 through December 2024 to rank cities. Here’s the Top 10:
- Boston
- D.C.
- Baltimore
- Worcester, Mass.
- Springfield, Mass.
- Glendale, Calif.
- Providence
- Sunrise Manor, Nev.
- Los Angeles
- Philadelphia
But local Allstate agent Rudy Alston says D.C. drivers themselves may not deserve the bad rap.
“I think a lot of it isn’t so much from D.C. natives,” he said. “I think it’s a lot of people coming from outside of D.C. — coming from Maryland and Virginia that commute to D.C. — that maybe aren’t as familiar with the traffic laws in D.C. and how congested D.C. is with the influx of pedestrians, Uber drivers, the Door Dash guys on the scooters, the Metrobuses. So, I just think when they get here, they’re just not familiar with it.”
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