Good morning. This is The Washington Sun Metro newsletter for Sept. 14, 2026. You can get it in your inbox every day by signing up here — it’s free!
In today’s newsletter: The Trayon White trial, a warning about D.C.’s economy and the Commanders’ season-opening defeat.
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THE LATEST
Trending
A particularly high-stakes moment in D.C. politics is set to play out in the coming weeks, but it won’t be in City Hall — it will be in a federal courthouse.
Opening statements in the federal bribery trial of Ward 8 council member Trayon White could begin as early as this week. The long-awaited trial comes more than two years after he was indicted on charges of taking $35,000 in cash from D.C. businessman Allieu Kamara in exchange for promises that he would help Kamara maintain his existing contracts and land new ones.
White has conceded that he accepted the money. But as The Washington Sun’s Jenny Gathright and Martin Austermuhle report, his defense attorneys are expected to argue that he didn’t actually do anything official in exchange to help Kamara. A decade-old Supreme Court ruling involving former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell may help White — it tightened the definition of what it takes to prove that an elected official was actually bribed.
But those envelopes full of cash that were handed to White — all caught on video — will probably hang in the minds of jurors, said Peter Zeidenberg, a former public corruption prosecutor in D.C. who is now a partner at ArentFox Schiff: “It doesn’t smell right. Nobody looks at that situation and thinks, ‘This is normal.’”
The role of the FBI may also come into play. White has claimed he was entrapped by the government, and the fact that Kamara was working as an informant for the FBI may help buttress the claim. “It does look like the government went after White and set him up, essentially, and jurors don’t always like that,” said Erica Hashimoto, the director of the appellate litigation program at Georgetown Law.
White’s legal problems have hung over the city since he was indicted, and his trial comes as the Trump administration and congressional Republicans have aggressively inserted themselves into the city’s local affairs. Should he be convicted, White could face prison time — and would be immediately expelled from the council, triggering a special election in Ward 8.
DEEP DIVE
D.C. Chief Financial Officer Glen Lee isn’t mincing words.
In a presentation to the D.C. Chamber of Commerce last week, Lee told an audience of local business leaders that “economic and revenue signals are flashing red.”
More than 36,000 jobs have been lost since June 2025, largely from federal government layoffs. The unemployment rate in D.C. stood at 6% in June, above the national rate of 4.3%. The office vacancy rate is up, and business tax revenue is down.
One positive note is that revenue from individual income taxes is up. But that comes with a caveat: Most of that is from people doing well in the stock market, or residents who received severance payments from the federal government. Lee said the revenue is “wild and subject to sudden swings,” unlike the preferred streams from property and sales taxes.
Lee’s warnings seemed to have had their intended effect. One attendee tells The Sun that the crowd came out of the event “sobered” about the challenges ahead.
Those challenges include a growing deficit that D.C. lawmakers will have to close next year — just as Janeese Lewis George, the expected winner of November’s mayoral race, will be trying to enact her ambitious agenda. In October, the council will start discussing possible tax increases to bring in more revenue, but there’s no certainty yet that they’ll actually pass any into law.
Lee’s warnings aren’t gospel: Some of his critics say that while they don’t contest that D.C. is facing economic headwinds, the CFO has sometimes underestimated how much revenue the city takes in. Earlier this summer, D.C. Auditor Kathy Patterson criticized Lee’s relationship with the council and urged him to more fully explain his dire predictions. “The CFO is damaging his office’s credibility by sounding alarms without adequate explanation,” she wrote.
FROM THE DISTRICT
Contractors admitted that their own errors, not vandalism, caused damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, The Sun’s Gavin J. Quinton reports. New documents show that Atlantic Industrial Coatings said workers had mistakenly layered two incompatible materials that caused paint on the pool liner to peel — and the government had knowledge of this error as it pursued criminal vandalism charges earlier this year.
Kennedy Center leaders say the venue is on the brink of bankruptcy and could close as soon as Tuesday, The Washington Post reports. In documents distributed to the center’s board, officials say the only way to avoid “certain fiscal collapse” could be putting President Donald Trump’s name on the building and therefore ensuring his support. Officials also recommend closing the building until a renovation is complete. The board could approve such a move at a special meeting Tuesday.
Trump wants a massive statue of George Washington installed outside the National Museum of American History. In a post to Truth Social last week, Trump wrote that he would like to see the “Infinity” sculpture that has stood outside the museum since 1967 replaced by a 30-foot statue of the founding father. Trump also proposed a five-year exhibit on Washington, starting in 2027 and running to his 300th birthday in February 2032.
WMATA has amended a policy requiring all bus operators to quote fares to passengers after public backlash over potential driver safety issues, WJLA reports. Now, only drivers in “fully enclosed workstations” are required to remind passengers of the fare. WMATA says it’s investing $18 million to install fully enclosed workstations on all buses by next May.
FROM MARYLAND
We Are CASA, a national immigrant rights advocacy group, filed a lawsuit last week against the Department of Homeland Security on behalf of four Maryland residents over what they say are unlawful arrests by ICE agents, The Sun’s Kendall Staton reports.
D.C. TRIVIA
Which group’s song inspired the name of legendary D.C. punk band Bad Brains?
- The Clash
- The Ramones
- The Rolling Stones
Email us your answer — the first reader who gets it right will receive a shout-out at the end of tomorrow’s newsletter.
SPORTS
Eagles 24, Commanders 22: After stumbling through a 5-12 campaign last year, Washington showed signs of improvement in Sunday’s season opener. A revamped defense held the Eagles mostly in check, but Jayden Daniels and the offense took some time to get going. When they did, new additions Stefon Diggs and Antonio Williams scored second-half touchdowns and the Commanders gave themselves a chance to tie the game late. That hope ended with a failed two-point conversion attempt.
We’ve got you covered after a dramatic Week 1:
- Martenzie Johnson breaks down the game and its key moments.
- Dave Sheinin writes about Daniels’ up-and-down performance in his first game with a new play caller.
- And Alex Schiffer rounds up the biggest Sunday storylines from the rest of the league.
High School Football Players of the Week: The Sun’s Noah Ferguson highlights five local standouts from Week 3, including a dual-threat quarterback from Largo and a Westfield running back who scored three touchdowns Friday.
What to Watch Today
NFL: Broncos at Chiefs, 8:15 p.m. (ESPN)
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The newsletter was produced by Jaden Amos, Michael Errigo and Nikie Johnson.
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