Big DC figure heads to Russia

First Up

The man in charge of D.C.’s visual appearance is currently in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. According to the Financial Times’ Max Seddon, Commission of Fine Arts chair Rodney Mims Cook Jr. visited the annual Saint Petersburg Forum — “Putin’s Davos” — to display renderings of Donald Trump’s D.C. projects and effuse about his many friends in Russia’s elite.

What was the vibe like? Well, Steven Seagal and Candace Owens were the other notable Americans at the event, which hasn’t had a U.S. delegation since 2017. And in his remarks, Cook also said the U.S. Civil War might have gone differently if the Leningrad Symphony had helped rally Atlanta against Gen. William T. Sherman.

A Trump appointee musing about the Confederacy might not feel like a local D.C. story, but Cook occupies a uniquely Washington position: The Commission on Fine Arts is one of the alphabet-soup outfits that wield influence on the District’s buildings, federal as well as local. In March, Cook went off on a D.C. school renovation that violated the president’s demand for traditional architecture.

Critics, of course, have a different way of describing the MAGA fetish for columns and pediments: They call it fascist. Plenty of people disagree. But against that backdrop, it seems pretty notable that the guy the administration put in charge of approving the Arc de Trump, the White House ballroom, and a variety of other changes to our city is rubbing elbows and talking architecture in an authoritarian state.

What D.C.'s Talking About

Linkin’ Lincoln. Trump announced plans to link the Lincoln Memorial with the Potomac. They’re currently separated by Rock Creek Parkway. It’s a Trump idea that locals may actually like: There’s not much love for the roads that cut off the west end of the National Mall. (Locals may not like one of the names he floated: The Trump Promenade.) Back in the world of controversial Trump D.C. plans, the water got turned back on at the newly blue Reflecting Pool. City Cast’s Emma Uber visited the sunny-day scene and determined that: Yes, it still reflects.

NSO AOK? A day after former artistic advisor Ben Folds warned that the National Symphony Orchestra might not survive, the NSO’s board released a much less dire statement — and thanked the Trump-appointed Kennedy Center leadership for their help. A New York Times report laid out the ongoing challenges: The orchestra’s budget has still not been approved by the center; ticket sales fell from 83 percent to 43 percent; and it doesn’t have a new venue as the center prepares to close for repairs.

Just Kennedy Again. Also at the Kennedy Center: The general counsel has instructed staff to begin removing Trump’s name from the building as well as from brochures, merch, and email signatures, the Washington Post reported. A judge ruled that renaming the place for the president had been illegal and gave them until June 12 to change.

Exorcist vs. Aliens. Washington’s Catholic archbishop, Robert McElroy, has removed the archdiocese’s official exorcist from his job. Monsignor Stephen Rossetti said on a YouTube show that UFOs are demons, which contradicts Catholic teaching. A psychologist and onetime Washington Nationals chaplain, Rossetti — with 148,000 Instagram followers — is a big deal in conservative Catholic circles. His now-former job carries a powerful pop-culture resonance: The iconic horror film The Exorcist is also about an exorcism in the Washington Archdiocese.

Freedom Fighter. D.C. Councilmember Trayon White posted, and then took down, a response to Kenyan McDuffie’s campaign calling out his looming corruption trial. “I’m fighting for my freedom,” he wrote. “This sucka shit.” It’s hard to tell who might have been less happy with the post: White’s lawyers, or Janeese Lewis George? The candidate’s embrace of White has become a campaign-trail headache that just got extended for another day. For his part, McDuffie again took to social media to slam Lewis George’ ties to White. “That should tell you everything you need to know about her judgment,” he wrote.

More Friend Drama. Speaking of unsavory friends: At a mayoral debate yesterday, NBC4’s Mark Segraves asked Lewis George about her ties to two other radioactive pols, Michael Brown and Harry Thomas Jr., both of whom went from the D.C. Council to federal prison. Lewis George said neither would be part of her administration. She in turn said Pepco lobbyists are campaigning with McDuffie, who she accuses of allowing the utility to jack up prices.

Elissa Again. WAMU’s Alex Koma reports on the special election for an at-large D.C. Council seat, focusing particularly on the return of Elissa Silverman, once “the fieriest member of the council’s left flank” before losing in 2022. Koma sees signs of moderation, noting the Silverman’s outreach to the real estate industry. The other candidates are Jacque Patterson as well as Doni Crawford, who was appointed to fill the empty seat after McDuffie resigned to run for mayor last winter.

Yo! DMV Raps. The music website Pitchfork says the most innovative rap in America may be coming out of D.C.’s “free car music” scene. The article focuses on a pair of local collectives, labeling the drill-derived genre a soundtrack for Black teens in gentrifying Washington. Names to know: The collectives are called Too Many Strikes (TMS) and Deep & Powerful Music (DPM).

Finally: It’s time to vote! But not in the mayoral race. You can name City Cast DC as your favorite podcaster in City Paper’s “Best of D.C.” voting, happening now.

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