The U.S. military is stationing a vast array of forces in the Middle East, including two aircraft carriers, fighter jets and refueling tankers, with President Donald Trump saying that Iran had 10 to 15 days at most to strike a deal over its nuclear program.
“We’re either going to get a deal, or it’s going to be unfortunate for them,” Trump told reporters Thursday aboard Air Force One. On a deadline, Trump said he thought 10 to 15 days was “pretty much” the “maximum” he would allow for negotiations to continue.
“I would think that would be enough time,” he said.
The deployment is unlike anything the U.S. has done since 2003, when it amassed forces before the invasion of Iraq. It dwarfs the military buildup that Trump ordered off the coast of Venezuela in the weeks before he ousted President Nicolas Maduro.
While the U.S. isn’t likely to deploy ground troops, the buildup suggests Trump is giving himself discretion to launch a sustained campaign lasting many days, in cooperation with Israel. While discussions have focused on a sustained campaign far more sweeping than the overnight strikes the U.S. launched against Iran’s nuclear program last June, the president is also weighing a limited early strike designed to drive Tehran to the negotiating table, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
“Maybe we’re going to make a deal,” Trump said in a speech on Thursday morning. “You’re going to be finding out over the next probably 10 days.”
Heightened geopolitical worries over U.S.-Iran tensions sent stocks lower and extended a surge in oil, with Brent crude, the global benchmark, rising above $71 a barrel on Thursday.
The open question is whether Iran can possibly satisfy Trump’s demands and whether, by positioning so much military hardware to the region, Trump may feel compelled to use it rather than backing down.
Tracking site FlightRadar24’s data shows a surge of flight activity by U.S. military transport, aerial tankers, surveillance aircraft and drones to bases in Qatar, Jordan, Crete and Spain.
The aircraft, whose transponders make them visible over land to the tracking site, include KC-46 and KC-135 air-to-air refuelers and C-130J cargo planes used to move troops and heavy equipment.
It also includes E-3 Sentry jets equipped with airborne warning and control system radar, which provide “all-altitude and all-weather surveillance” of potential battle zones, as well as RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance drones.
The weapons at Trump’s disposal are formidable. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier is accompanied by three Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, which can carry Tomahawk missiles. The carrier’s air wing includes F-35C fighter jets.
The USS Gerald R. Ford, the most expensive U.S. warship ever built, at $13 billion, is accompanied by guided missile destroyers, and its associated air wing includes F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornets, E-2D airborne early warning aircraft, as well as MH-60S and MH-60R Seahawk helicopters and C-2A Greyhounds.
The two carriers provide “more options, and would enable us to conduct operations on a more sustained basis – if it comes to that,” said Michael Eisenstadt, director of military studies for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He said the buildup “signals to the Iranians the need to be more flexible in negotiations.”
Trump met with his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and special envoy, Steve Witkoff, on Wednesday for an update on the negotiations with Iran. Officials met in the Situation Room on Wednesday to discuss possible action and were told to expect that all U.S. military forces deployed to the region would be in place by mid-March, according to a U.S. official.
A major strike against Iran – where leaders are anxious about regime stability following widespread unrest – risks entangling the U.S. in its third war of choice in the Middle East since 1991, against a more formidable adversary than the U.S. has faced in decades.
Trump’s use of the military in his second term has been characterized by short and successful engagements with minimal harm to American troops, including the bombing of Iranian nuclear targets in June, attacking alleged drug-trafficking boats and the raid that extracted Maduro in early January.
But if fresh strikes on Iran prompt a wider conflagration, the president could face considerable public pressure. Trump spoke against U.S. engagement in foreign wars on the campaign trail, but has gone on to bomb Iran, Tehran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen and militants in Syria.
“With Iran’s air defenses largely neutralized by previous U.S. and Israeli strikes, the U.S. strike fighters would operate largely with impunity over Iranian airspace,” said Bryan Clark, a defense analyst for the Hudson Institute and a former Navy strategy officer. “There is always the risk of downed pilots, but I think the bigger risk is to ships. The same cruise and ballistic missiles the Iranians gave to the Houthis could be turned against U.S. ships in the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea and Red Sea.”
Thousands of U.S. servicemembers in the region are also within range of Iranian ballistic missiles, and regime officials have vowed to respond with full force to a U.S. strike.
Beyond attacks on U.S. military assets, Iran could try to close the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between Oman and Iran traversed by 25% of maritime oil traffic.
The U.S. strikes in June 2025 focused on three sites associated with Iran’s nuclear program, but a more ambitious effort to topple the regime in Tehran could involve attacks on sites associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and potentially senior leadership including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
But Iran might be able to withstand such decapitation attempts.
“Israel already killed the top leaders of the IRGC in its opening strikes in the June war and Iran was able to reconstitute and respond within 24 hours,” said Jamal Abdi, president of the U.S.-based National Iranian American Council. “They’ve now planned for these possibilities in future wars and so now may be even more resilient if senior leaders are killed.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that Iran was expected to offer a response to the negotiations within “the next couple of weeks,” but did not preclude the possibility of military action before that. “The president will continue to watch how this plays out,” she said.
Justices wrote the Constitution “very clearly” gives Congress the power to impose taxes, which include tariffs, and that Trump could not invoke emergency powers to impose them.
Philly area lawmakers, area businesses react to Supreme Court ruling
President Donald Trump slammed Republican-nominated Supreme Court justices who ruled against him Friday.
Pennsylvania lawmakers say Congress should reclaim its power over taxes and tariffs after the U.S. Supreme Court quashed President Donald Trump’s controversial global tariffs.
The nation’s high court ruled 6-3 Friday that Trump overstepped with tariffs imposed under an emergency powers law, dealing a significant blow to the president’s economic agenda and reasserting congressional authority.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett — both Trump nominees — joined liberal justices in the majority. Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito dissented.
Trump told reporters at the White House Friday that he was “ashamed” of the three Republican-appointed justices for not having “the courage to do what’s right for our country.”
But local lawmakers celebrated the decision as a step toward alleviating inflation exacerbated by Trump’s tariffs.
It’s “the first piece of good news that American consumers have gotten in a very long time,” said U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle (D., Philadelphia), the ranking member of the House Budget Committee.
The decision is likely not the end of the road for Trump’s efforts to impose tariffs. The court struck down the broad authority Trump had claimed to impose sweeping tariffs but he could still impose additional import and export taxes using powers he employed in his first term.
President of Philly port operator says Supreme Court ruling ‘hard to interpret’
Workers move cargo at the Tioga Marine Terminal in Port Richmond.
Andrew Sentyz is president of Delaware River Stevedores, which operates the Port of Philadelphia’s publicly owned Tioga Marine Terminal in Port Richmond.
“It’s kind of hard to interpret,” he said of the Supreme Court ruling. “…I don’t know if I have a handle on what exactly it’s going to impact, and what it’s not. Some [tariffs] are still there, some are not.”
“Our business is a lot like a public utility in that there’s a demand and there’s a supply and we’re like the conduit the goods pass through,” he said. “…Trade policy massively affects how much moves or how much doesn’t move and in which direction.”
Sentyz said he’s cautiously optimistic about a normalization in trade.
“From the perspective that people have more certainty, I think it is welcome,” he said of the court ruling. “People receiving the cargo, they like a market that’s predictable. When it’s unpredictable it makes their business much harder. We’re impacted by how much they buy or sell.”
Will companies get refunds for paying tariffs the Supreme Court has now ruled were illegally imposed?
Treasury secretary Scott Bessent doesn’t think it’s likely.
“I got a feeling the American people won’t see it,” Bessent said during an interview at the Economic Club of Dallas Friday,
Bessent said he expects tariff revenue to be “virtually unchanged” in 2026 because the administration plans to turn to alternate methods to collect the levies.
Trump has already announced he plans to impose a 10% global tariff using an untested section of the 1974 Trade Act meant to address issues with international payments.
Reaction from Europe focuses on renewed upheaval, confusion
European Union flags flap in the wind outside of EU headquarters in Brussels.
The initial reaction from Europe focused on renewed upheaval and confusion regarding costs facing businesses exporting to the US.
The European Commission had reached a deal with the Trump administration capping tariffs on European imports at 15%. The deal gave businesses certainty that helped them plan, a factor credited with helping the 21 countries that use the euro currency skirt a recession last year.
“Uncertainty remains high for German enterprises doing business in the US,” said the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “Because there are other instruments for trade limitations in the hands of the US administration that German companies must prepare themselves for.”
Trump could resort to laws permitting more targeted tariffs that could hit pharmaceuticals, chemicals and auto parts, said Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING bank: “Europe should not be mistaken, this ruling will not bring relief. … The legal authority may be different, but the economic impact could be identical or worse.”
— Associated Press
// Timestamp 02/20/26 3:08pm
Supreme Court ruling the beginning of a long legal battle
Among those following the issue, the Supreme Court ruling was “widely expected,” said Villanova University professor of international business Jonathan Doh.
In oral hearings, the Trump administration had argued that the tariffs were necessary due to trade disputes that constituted an emergency, said Doh, who had served as a trade policy negotiator during the 1990s.
However, the administration then touted the tariffs’ revenue-generating capacity — saying they’ve raised about $175 billion, Doh said. Supreme Court justices took notice of this when they weighed whether this was really an emergency.
“The justices spent as much time arguing about whether the remedy [for the trade dispute] was tariffs,” Doh said.
The 6-3 decision is having immediate effects, Doh said. Importers can no longer collect tariffs through this act. Companies are already looking for ways to recoup what they paid from the federal government. And the Trump administration has already announced it plans to implement “temporary” tariffs through another legal mechanism.
This “shifting playing field” only adds uncertainty to a business community that’s been watching tariffs closely since the start of Trump’s second term, Doh said. All of this will play out in legal battles in the lower courts.
“The decision was extremely significant, but it’s not the end of the story,” Doh said. “In some ways it’s just the beginning.”
Shapiro calls on Trump to ‘listen’ to the Supreme Court
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Gov. Josh Shapiro said he agreed with the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Trump’s tariffs.
“I have made no bones about the fact that these tariffs are really harming,” the governor said. “I spend a lot of time on farmlands in our commonwealth. Farmers are getting killed by this.”
“We are hearing from folks in our rural communities sort of questioning why would the president do this,” Shapiro continued. “At the same time we’re seeing grocery prices go up, consumer goods go up, and there is a direct line connecting those price increases to the president pushing the tariff.”
Inflation reports show Trump’s tariffs inflated prices across household consumer items by as much as 5% at times.
Shapiro concluded by taking a jab at the president.
“I think the Supreme Court got it right. I say that as a former attorney general, and I say that as someone who actually follows the law,” he said. “And I think the president needs to actually listen to the Supreme Court and drop this and stop the pain for Pennsylvania and stop the pains for the Americans who are dealing with rising prices directly as a result of his tariffs.”
Bucks County Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick ‘applauds’ Supreme Court decision
U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.) is a moderate who represents Bucks County.
Casey-Lee Waldron, a spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Bucks), said in a statement Friday the lawmaker “applauds” the high court’s decision, “which validates the Congressman’s opposition to blanket and indiscriminate tariffs that are not narrowly tailored, and that do not lower costs for the American consumer.”
Waldron added that Fitzpatrick, a moderate who represents purple Bucks County, supports enforcing trade laws but that “This should always be done in a collaborative manner with a bipartisan, bicameral majority in Congress.”
Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, a Delaware County Democrat, joined the chorus of lawmakers applauding the decision Friday afternoon.
In a post to X she called the decision a “win for the American people.”
“If the President stands by his disastrous tariff policy, it’s because he doesn’t care about lowering costs for American families,” Scanlon wrote.
Trump says he’ll impose a 10% tariff on all countries using untested statute
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters Friday.
President Donald Trump told reporters he plans to sign an executive order enacting 10% global tariffs following the Supreme Court’s decision.
“Today, I will sign an order to impose a 10% global tariff under Section 122, over and above our normal tariffs already being charged,” Trump said Friday. “And we’re also initiating several section 301, and other investigations to protect our country from unfair trading practices of other countries and companies.”
Section 122, a statute created by the 1974 Trade Act, allows the president to impose temporary tariffs on countries to address issues with international payments. The statute, which has never been invoked by a president, limits tariffs to 150 days.
National Association of Manufacturers president: U.S. trade policy needs ‘clarity and durability’
Jay Timmons, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, said he and other leaders of the 14,000-member manufacturers’ group share President Trump’s goal of “ushering in the greatest manufacturing era.” But, he added, the court decision “underscores the importance of clarity and durability in U.S. trade policy.”
Timmons was in Philadelphia Friday morning to meet with leaders from the port, shipyard, Chamber of Commerce, and others in industry.
Stable tariffs and policies boost investment and hiring, but “legal and policy uncertainty make it more difficult” for American companies to compete, Timmons added in a statement. Since the court has ruled, “now is the time for policymakers to work together to provide a clear and consistent framework for trade.”
In the future, tariffs should be limited, according to the NAM leader. Timmons said punitive tariffs should target “specific unfair trade practices,” especially in “nonmarket” nations where government controls production.
NAM has pledged to work with Congress and the Trump administration on “durable” solutions to boost U.S. manufacturing and factory workers, he concluded.
‘Fools and lapdogs’: Trump says Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices lacked loyalty in tariff ruling
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters Friday.
President Donald Trump slammed three Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices for voting in favor of striking down his tariffs on foreign goods.
Two justices Trump nominated — Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett — joined with chief justice John Roberts in ending Trump’s central economic policy.
Speaking to reporters at the White House Friday, Trump said he was “ashamed” the three justices — two of whom he nominated — didn’t have “the courage to do what’s right for our country.”
Trump also went after the court’s three Democratic appointees, calling them “automatic no” votes on any of his policies that make their way to the Supreme Court.
“You can’t knock their loyalty,” Trump said. “It’s one thing you can do with some of our people … They’re just being fools and lapdogs for the RINOs and radical-left Democrats.”
“Trump’s tariffs are FAR from over,” says Gene Marks, small business columnist for The Inquirer and founder of small-business consulting firm Marks Group in Bala Cynwyd.
Marks notes, “As Karoline Leavitt said back in June ‘we can walk and chew gum at the same time’ and as Scott Bessent said in December: ‘The administration will be able to replicate tariffs even if the SCOTUS rules against.’”
Some ways it could do so, Marks added, include:
The 1930 Smoot Hawley Act allows the U.S. to impose tariffs up to 50% on imports from countries that “discriminate” against U.S. goods through unfair duties, taxes, or regulations. But it requires congressional approval.
Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 gives the president “balance-of-payments” authority. This has a 150-day limit unless extended by Congress, and a 15% maximum rate.
Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962/Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 allow tariffs on sectors or industries. These would require investigations and public comment.
“The only thing certain about tariffs in 2026 is that there will be a lot of uncertainty,” Marks said.
Tariffs had been impacting business at the Port of Philadelphia
Cranes at the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal in South Philadelphia.
Tariffs have slowed business at the Port of Philadelphia lately, with cargo volume down across the board — containers, steel, automobiles, and other commodities.
Philly is a major gateway for produce, bringing in more fresh fruit than any other U.S. port, largely from Central and South America. The port saw record container volume last year, handling almost 900,000 units, up 6% over 2024. About two-thirds of that cargo was refrigerated — fruit and meat, for example.
But the year got off to a slow start. “The story is increased competition and tariffs,” Sean Mahoney, marketing director at the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (PhilaPort), said during the agency’s board meeting on Wednesday.
Container volume in January was down 14% over the year-earlier period. Auto imports fell 17%, and breakbulk cargoes (steel, paper, lumber) fell too. (Tariffs weren’t the only factor; Mahoney noted that ports in early 2025 happened to see more cargo than usual in part because shippers ordered more goods amid labor negotiations between employers and unions representing dockworkers.)
Shapiro hails Supreme Court decision to stop Trump’s ‘reckless approach’
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has been a vocal opponent of Trump’s tariffs.
Gov. Josh Shapiro, who has been a frequent critic of the tariffs, posted to X Friday applauding the Supreme Court’s decision.
“Donald Trump’s tariffs have been a disaster — wreaking havoc on Pennsylvania farmers, small business owners, and families who are just trying to make ends meet,” Shapiro wrote.
He urged Trump to follow the court’s ruling and “drop this reckless approach to economic policy that has done nothing but screw over Americans.”
New Jersey import-export company doesn’t expect it will be easy to get refunds
Now that the Supreme Court has made its decision, one big question for companies is whether they’ll be able to get refunds for the additional tariffs they’ve paid since “liberation day” 10 months ago, said Tim Avanzato, vice president of international sales at Lanca Sales Inc.
The New Jersey-based import-export company should be eligible for as much as $4 million in tariff refunds, Avanzato said. But getting that money is far from guaranteed.
“It’s going to create a paperwork nightmare for importers,” he said, and he doesn’t expect the Trump administration to make it easy.
He’ll also be on the lookout for other ways the Trump administration may implement tariffs, further complicating the matter.
Avanzato said President Trump was right when he said that other countries have been taking advantage of the U.S. with their tariffs — and in principle, the president was right to apply his own.
“He should have done more with a scalpel than with a bomb,” Avanzato said.
Though companies may be able to recoup some of what they lost, the same won’t go for consumers, he noted.
“Companies are not very good at passing on savings,” Avanzato said. “Nobody is going to rush to drop their prices.”
Supreme Court ruling brings uncertainty to Pennsylvania businesses
Canada is Pennsylvania’s biggest export market, with the state sending more than $14 billion in goods there in 2024.
The Supreme Court’s decision may be welcome news for U.S. businesses that pay the import taxes, but one immediate effect is more uncertainty as firms weigh whether to hire and make investments.
Not all of President Donald Trump’s tariff increases came through the use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and therefore some will remain in place, said Julie Park, a partner at London-based tax and business advisory firm Blick Rothenberg.
“This decision brings further uncertainty for businesses,” she said in a statement. That’s in part because Trump could seek to reimpose tariffs through other legal tools, leaving “businesses in limbo about if they will get refunded.”
U.S. exporters will also be closely following what happens next, since the fate of Trump’s tariffs will likely affect whether other countries like Canada keep their retaliatory measures in place. Canada is Pennsylvania’s biggest export market, with the state sending more than $14 billion in goods there in 2024. Top exports included machinery, cocoa, iron, and steel.
Pennsylvania’s dairy industry has also been caught in the middle of the global trade war, as China and Canada imposed extra taxes on those goods in response to U.S. tariffs.
President Donald Trump will hold a news briefing at 12:45 p.m. to address the Supreme Court’s ruling, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on social media.
// Timestamp 02/20/26 12:17pm
Gov. Mikie Sherrill, other New Jersey officials celebrate Supreme Court ruling
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, seen here in November.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill celebrated the court ruling on President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which she said have raised costs by $1,700 per New Jersey family and had a negative impact on small businesses and jobs.
“I’m thrilled that folks and businesses will start to see the relief they deserve – with no thanks to the president,” she added.
The new governor ran on a message combining affordability and fighting Trump. She took particular aim at his tariffs and visited small businesses in South Jersey to discuss their impact on local economies in the state.
Sen. Andy Kim, a South Jersey Democrat, said the Supreme Court’s decision is “a step” in righting wrongs by Trump’s administration, but that there’s “so much more to go.”
Calling the tariffs “unpopular and illegal,” the senator said the president cost Americans “a lot of money.”
“Trump 2.0: You pay for his tariffs, tax breaks for his billionaire donors, & insane corruption for his friends and family,” he added in a social media post.
Sen. Cory Booker, a North Jersey Democrat, lauded the Supreme Court for ruling “what we’ve all known: this administration cannot ignore the rule of law and Congress’ role to protect America’s economy from reckless and chaotic tariffs.”
“For nearly a year, Trump abused our trade tools to curry favors with foreign officials and exact revenge on his rivals, all while America’s working families and small businesses paid the price,” Booker said on social media. “Trump raised the cost on everything from the food we eat to the clothes we wear, and also failed to bring back good-paying jobs or fix our broken economy.”
Philly Rep. Dwight Evans calls on Congress to reassert its constitutional power
Congressman Dwight Evans, seen here in 2025.
U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans (D., Pa.), who represents parts of Philadelphia, called the ruling a win for the wallets of Americans and called on Congress to reassert its power over the country’s economy.
“The Constitution is clear — only Congress has the power to levy tariffs and other taxes,” Evans wrote on social media. “I’m a co-sponsor of legislation to return this power to Congress — it’s long past time Republicans work with Democrats to pass it!”
The bill, which has no chance of passing in the Republican-controlled House, would require congressional approval for all new tariffs and the reversal of tariffs imposed on Mexico and Canada enacted through the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
His call was echoed by Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican who serves as the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
In a statement, Grassley wrote, “I’ve made clear Congress needs to reassert its constitutional role over commerce, which is why I introduced prospective legislation that would give Congress a say when tariffs are levied in the future.”
President Trump described the Supreme Court decision as “a disgrace” when he was notified in real time during his morning meeting with several governors.
That’s according to someone with direct knowledge of the president’s reaction, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversation. Trump was meeting privately with nearly two dozen governors from both parties when the decision was released.
— Associated Press
// Timestamp 02/20/26 11:03am
Brendan Boyle celebrates Supreme Court ruling as ‘good news’ for consumers
U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in November.
The decision is “the first piece of good news that American consumers have gotten in a very long time,” said U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle (D., Philadelphia), the ranking member of the House Budget Committee, said in an interview Friday.
Boyle noted that the public will eventually see prices go down, but it remains unclear what will happen to tariff revenue that’s already been collected. But Pennsylvania lawmakers, including Boyle, are pushing for Congress to reassert its power to control the country’s purse strings.
“As the Supreme Court validated this morning, Congress has the authority to levy taxes and tariffs,” Boyle said. “It’s time now for us to finally reclaim that authority and bring some certainty and rationality to our tariff policy, which under Donald Trump has been all over the map and changes day by day, even hour by hour.”
Boyle and U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans (D., Philadelphia) have cosponsored a bill that would require congressional approval for all new tariffs and the reversal of tariffs imposed on Mexico and Canada enacted through the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. It’s unlikely that it will pass the Republican-controlled U.S. House.
Will businesses get refunds? One Supreme Court justice says the process will be a ‘mess’
Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was one of three who ruled against striking down the tariffs.
Companies have collectively paid billions in tariffs. Many companies, including the big-box warehouse chain Costco, have already lined up for refunds in court, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh noted the process could be complicated.
“The Court says nothing today about whether, and if so how, the Government should go about returning the billions of dollars that it has collected from importers. But that process is likely to be a ‘mess,’ as was acknowledged at oral argument,” Kavanaugh wrote in the dissent.
We Pay the Tariffs, a coalition of more than 800 small businesses that has been advocating against the tariffs, said a process for refunding the tariffs is imperative.
“A legal victory is meaningless without actual relief for the businesses that paid these tariffs,” executive director Dan Anthony said in a statement. “The administration’s only responsible course of action now is to establish a fast, efficient, and automatic refund process that returns tariff money to the businesses that paid it.”
— Associated Press
// Timestamp 02/20/26 10:36am
The Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s tariffs
The Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s far-reaching global tariffs on Friday, handing him a significant loss on an issue crucial to his economic agenda.
The 6-3 decision centers on tariffs imposed under an emergency powers law, including the sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs he levied on nearly every other country.
It’s the first major piece of Trump’s broad agenda to come squarely before the nation’s highest court, which he helped shape with the appointments of three conservative jurists in his first term.
The majority found that the Constitution “very clearly” gives Congress the power to impose taxes, which include tariffs. “The Framers did not vest any part of the taxing power in the Executive Branch,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.
Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Brett Kavanaugh dissented.
“The tariffs at issue here may or may not be wise policy. But as a matter of text, history, and precedent, they are clearly lawful,” Kavanaugh wrote in the dissent.
The economic impact of Trump’s tariffs has been estimated at some $3 trillion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The Treasury has collected more than $133 billion from the import taxes the president has imposed under the emergency powers law, federal data from December shows. Many companies, including the big-box warehouse chain Costco, have already lined up in court to demand refunds.
— Associated Press
// Timestamp 02/20/26 10:34am
Trump could still impose tariffs under other laws
The Supreme Court’s tariffs decision doesn’t stop President Donald Trump from imposing duties under other laws.
While those have more limitations on the speed and severity of Trump’s actions, top administration officials have said they expect to keep the tariff framework in place under other authorities.
“It’s hard to see any pathway here where tariffs end,” said Georgetown trade law professor Kathleen Claussen. “I am pretty convinced he could rebuild the tariff landscape he has now using other authorities.”
The Constitution gives Congress the power to levy tariffs. But the Trump administration argued that a 1977 law allowing the president to regulate importation during emergencies also allows him to set tariffs. Other presidents have used the law dozens of times, often to impose sanctions, but Trump was the first president to invoke it for import taxes.
Trump set what he called “reciprocal” tariffs on most countries in April 2025 to address trade deficits that he declared a national emergency. Those came after he imposed duties on Canada, China, and Mexico, ostensibly to address a drug trafficking emergency.
A series of lawsuits followed, including a case from a dozen largely Democratic-leaning states and others from small businesses selling everything from plumbing supplies to educational toys to women’s cycling apparel.
The challengers argued the emergency powers law doesn’t even mention tariffs and Trump’s use of it fails several legal tests, including one that doomed then-President Joe Biden’s $500 billion student loan forgiveness program.
— Associated Press
Two Trump Supreme Court appointees ruled against his tariffs
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the court’s majority opinion, joined by Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, two of Trump’s three Supreme Court picks. The three liberal justices were also part of the majority.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Trump’s other appointee, wrote the main dissent, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.
The Library Company of Philadelphia has lined up its next chief. Jessica Choppin Roney will take over the 295-year-old institution as soon as its merger with Temple University is approved by Philadelphia Orphans’ Court, leaders said this week.
Roney has existing ties to both Temple and the Library Company, as director of the program in early American economy and society at the Library Company and as an associate professor of history at Temple. She is also chair of the “integration council” that has been set up to help facilitate the amalgamation of the two groups.
“She’s been working very closely with us, so she was the obvious choice to take on the new role,” said current Library Company director John C. Van Horne, who will continue in his post until Roney takes over. Director and director-designate are already working together on the transition, he said.
Roney said this week that even with the merger, the Library Company’s mission won’t change.
“It continues to be a center of scholarly research and public-facing programming, so we’ve got work in history, in literature, science, and dance and music, and art, and on and on. That all continues and will grow and amplify with our relationship with Temple.”
The group, founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1731, owns more than 500,000 rare books, manuscripts, prints, photographs, works of art, ephemera, and other objects, mostly from the 17th through 19th centuries.
“It has always been America’s library, even before it was America,” Roney said.
The collection will continue to acquire new items, and will explore opportunities for Temple students to “make use of our collections in new ways,” she said.
Roney noted that even though the Library Company has often been powered by women — staff, trustees, shareholders, and donors — it has never had a woman at the helm.
“It’s exciting at a time of change that one of those changes is to have the first woman in charge,” she said.
Pedestrians passing the Library Company of Philadelphia in Center City, June 25, 2025.
Facing a string of projected operating deficits, the library began to explore merger opportunities with other groups in 2024. Talks with Temple became public this past June. The boards of both organizations have approved the deal, and in December Library Company shareholders voted 174 to 33 in favor of the merger.
A potential Orphans’ Court approval — which could take weeks to years to receive, said Van Horne — would end nearly three centuries of independence for the library, whose home is on Locust Street just east of Broad, where it will remain.
Roney started as director-designate Jan. 9, and was approved for the post by the Library Company board on Jan. 22, a Temple spokesperson said. Her appointment, however, was not publicly announced until it was included in a newsletter from the group this week. Van Horne said she was chosen without a search, and no other candidates were considered.
“We thought it would be good initially since we’re just getting this relationship off the ground to have a Temple faculty person as the first director [of the merged organization], and it was fortuitous that the early Americanist at Temple was on our payroll,” said Van Horne. “She already had a foot in both camps.”
Roney, 47, earned a bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College, a master’s from the College of William and Mary, and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. It was at the Library Company that she conducted research for her first book, Governed by a Spirit of Opposition: The Origins of American Political Practice in Colonial Philadelphia.
Van Horne was director of the Library Company from 1985 until 2014, and then returned in 2024 to help manage its financial difficulties. He has been a strong proponent of the merger, as he was for Roney’s appointment.
“She’s energetic, imaginative, and she has ideas about what we can do with Temple and others,” he said. “I’m very hopeful for the future. I think she’s going to be terrific, and I wasn’t so hopeful for the future a year ago.”
Charles Barkley is about to get his wish to work more this season.
The former Sixers star and his longtime Inside the NBA colleagues Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson return to ESPN Friday night to cover a doubleheader beginning at 7:30 p.m. Philly time.
Since making the jump to ESPN this season, Inside the NBA’s schedule hasn’t been as orderly as it was on TNT, where it aired every Thursday night as part of an NBA doubleheader (outside of the first few months of the year, where it avoided going head-to-head with Amazon’s Thursday Night Football).
Or as frequent. Entering Friday night, Inside the NBA has only aired on ESPN or ABC nine times this season, something Barkley has complained about on various platforms.
“I wish we’d have been on more during the first half of the season,” Barkley said on The Dan LeBatard Show last month. “We only worked one day in December.”
But as ESPN always planned, Inside the NBA’s schedule will ramp up in the final third of the season leading into the playoffs. This week alone the show is scheduled to air three straight nights and six times over the next 10 days. It will also air during ESPN’s coverage of the Eastern Conference finals and the NBA Finals.
The back-loaded schedule was actually requested by TNT Sports, according to ESPN president of content Burke Magnus, who said their deal included a provision that called for the majority of Inside the NBA episodes to air after Jan. 1.
“I’m not entirely sure what was behind that,” Magnus said on the SI Media with Jimmy Traina podcast in November, adding he’s “confident” they can figure out a way to make the schedule more consistent throughout the entire season.
Fans are certainly tuning in. Inside the NBA is averaging 1.34 million viewers per show across ABC and ESPN, according to Nielsen numbers. Their TNT numbers weren’t immediately available, but NBA games themselves on TNT averaged 1.25 million viewers last season.
Here’s the full Inside the NBA schedule on ESPN and ABC for the rest of the season:
Friday: ESPN
Saturday: ABC
Sunday: ABC
Fri, Feb. 27: ESPN
Sat., Feb. 28: ABC
Sun, Mar. 1: ABC
Fri, Mar. 6: ESPN
Sat., Mar. 7: ABC
Sun, Mar. 8: ABC
Sat., Mar. 14: ABC
Sun, Apr. 12: ESPN
As ESPN takes over NFL Network, Ian Rapoport’s future uncertain
NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport during Super Bowl week in San Francisco.
Ian Rapoport is used to breaking news, but the longtime insider at the NFL Network hasn’t yet gotten the scoop on his own future.
Last month, regulators approved ESPN’s deal to take over control of the NFL Network as part of its billion-dollar acquisition of NFL Media, with the NFL receiving a 10% ownership stake in the Disney-owned sports network. ESPN is expected to take full control of the network in April, and Rapoport’s contract expires in May.
In case you’d forgotten, ESPN already has its own NFL news breaker: Adam Schefter. But the network also has a history of employing multiple NFL insiders, pairing Chris Mortensen and Schefter for years. Prior to that, Mortensen worked breaking NFL news alongside John Clayton
Rapoport isn’t the only NFL insider at the NFL Network. Philly native Mike Garafolo and Tom Pelissero also cover the league’s moves, and the three cohost a show on the NFL Network appropriately called The Insiders.
ESPN has been quiet about its plans for the NFL Network. Rapoport said, from his understanding, “it’s going to be more football, more coverage, investing in NFL Network, and making it as best as it can possibly be.”
Quick hits
Jim Salisbury, seen here in 2018 alongside former Comcast SportsNet anchor and reporter Leslie Gudel.
Jim Salisbury is returning to NBC Sports Philadelphia to cover the Phillies’ spring training. The former Inquirer reporter previously covered the team for the network from 2009 through the 2022 season, going back to the Comcast SportsNet days. Salisbury also cohosts The Phillies Show podcast with Rubén Amaro Jr. and MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki.
One of Salisbury’s former colleagues also has a new gig covering the Phillies. Corey Seidman, who left NBC Sports Philadelphia last year, is joining digital start-up PHLY, where he’ll cohost the site’s daily Phillies video podcast alongside Jamie Lynch. PHLY launched in 2023, and while parent company ALLCITY has raised at least $25 million since 2022, they’ve hit some bumps in the road. Earlier this month the company shifted away from newsletters, costing PHLY’s Rich Hofmann and Tyler Zulli their jobs.
Versatile CBS host and former NFLer Nate Burleson will host coverage during the first two weeks of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Ernie Johnson, who has previously announced he’d be taking a step back this year, will return for the Final Four and NCAA men’s tournament final.
NBC is taking over Sunday Night Baseball this season from ESPN. In its place this summer, ESPN plans to air top-tier WNBA and NWSL games in what its calling “Women’s Sports Sundays.” But plans to highlight Caitlin Clark and other stars will depend how the WNBA’s labor issues shake out — right now a fight between the league and players union over a new collective bargaining agreement threatens to delay the start of the 2026 season, scheduled to begin April 25.
The Imhotep Charter boys’ basketball team was in Boston a few years ago for a tournament when Andre Noble told his players that they were in his hometown.
“I said, ‘Wait. What?’” said Ebony Twiggs, whose son, Justin Edwards, was one of Imhotep’s stars. “I just thought he always lived here. I didn’t know he wasn’t from Philly.”
Noble reminded Twiggs of the people she knew from West Oak Lane. He had been at Imhotep for more than 20 years. And he was one of the city’s premier high school basketball coaches. He fit in. Of course he was from Philadelphia.
Noble, who can win a sixth straight Public League title and 13th overall on Sunday when Imhotep plays West Philly High, is one of Philly’s all-time coaches.
Unlike the rest, Noble didn’t spend his teenage summers playing at places like Chew, Tustin, and Myers. He didn’t win CYO titles, ride the trolley to watch doubleheaders at the Palestra, or find himself within six degrees of separation from someone who played on the 1954 La Salle basketball team.
Philadelphia has produced great players, coaches, and even referees. And the high school coaches, especially the ones who have won at the rate Noble has, often grew up here. They played for the city high schools, perhaps even stayed for college, and remained a tight-knit crew who stayed home to teach the game.
Speedy Morris still lives in Roxborough, Dan Dougherty was from Olney, Bill Ellerbee grew up on Uber Street, and Carl Arrigale is as South Philly as slowly driving past a stop sign. The guys on the Mt. Rushmore of Philadelphia high school coaches are from the neighborhood who coached kids like them.
Andre Noble has been at Imhotep for 20 years, but his hometown is Boston.
But Noble grew up in Boston’s Mattapan neighborhood and didn’t even play high school ball. He came to Philadelphia in 2000 after graduating from Lincoln University and taught math at Imhotep, which did not yet have an athletic program.
Noble planned to stay in Philly for a year before moving on. His plans changed, he stayed, and Imhotep became a basketball powerhouse.
The guy from Boston did what seemingly has never been done: become a great Philly high school coach as an outsider.
“I think by the time everyone figured out I wasn’t from Philly, it was too late,” Noble said. “The ball was already rolling down the hill. But I’m definitely a Philly basketball guy. It’s important to me.”
A special guy
Imhotep didn’t have a basketball team when Noble arrived. The school didn’t even have a building.
“We called them modulars, but everyone else said, ‘Yo, that’s the trailer school,’” said Noble, who is now the school’s CEO.
Two students in his algebra class — Briscoe Chew and Marlon Mills — told Noble at the end of the school year that they were transferring. Noble was stunned. Why? Imhotep doesn’t have sports, they told him. So Noble launched a basketball team and kick-started a league with the city’s other charter schools.
Noble didn’t have a playing background to lean on, so he picked the brains of coaches in the area. Rap Curry, Greg Dennis, and Clyde Jones became his mentors. He was on his way. His plan to leave Philly after a year was spoiled, so he began to scour the city for players. He watched games at youth programs in North Philadelphia and hung at playgrounds, hoping he could fill a roster at Imhotep.
“I knew he was from Boston, but then I started seeing him at 25th and Diamond or 33rd and Diamond,” said Kamal Yard, who runs Philly Pride, one of the city’s premier AAU programs. “I’m like, ‘Bro, what are you doing down here? Do you know where you’re at?’ But he was in the mix. He was in the hood. He was in the projects. Nobody goes to the back of the projects at 25th and Diamond, but he did it. He was meeting the kids. That was his intro to Philly, and he was onto something. He got immersed into it.”
Yard met Noble years earlier when they were both students at Lincoln. Yard played ball and Noble watched from the stands. The future coach was studying, Yard said. When students complained about the food in the cafeteria, Noble led the charge as a member of the student government. He led a boycott, filed a petition, called the state, and ordered a review.
Imhotep players soak head coach Andre Noble after winning PIAA Class 5A boys basketball championship in 2024.
“You blinked and, man, we had a whole new menu,” Yard said. “But the whole point was that he was always about other people. So watching this transition, it’s no surprise. He’s a giver of people. He doesn’t look like a tough guy because he’s mild-mannered, but there’s a lot of toughness and resiliency in that frame. He’s as tough as they come.
“Brother Andre will go into the lion den with a tiki torch and a sword to go help a kid. He might come out scratched up, but he helped his kid. That’s Brother Andre.”
The Panthers, waiting for their gym to be built, practiced at a nearby recreation center and a middle school. It wasn’t ideal, but it worked. Imhotep won the Charter School league before moving in 2004 to the Public League. Five years later, Noble’s team won it all.
The Boston guy had built one of Philly’s finest teams.
“He’s a special guy,” said Fran Dunphy, the quintessential Philly coach. “The biggest asset he brings is just his genuine goodness. He treats the kids well, but there’s no question that he has an accountability for them and needs them to pay attention. They all seem to buy in. He’s remarkable for me.”
A teacher
Noble was a junior in college when he thought about how he was the only kid he grew up with preparing to get a degree. He wondered, how did that happen? And then he thought about his mom, a single parent who worked as an office manager and raised her sons — “Two knuckleheads,” Noble said — in a tough neighborhood.
“I called her and thanked her,” Noble said. “I knew it was that little lady who I thought was crazy but provided the foundation. She was a stickler, a disciplinarian. It was her way or the highway, ‘Hey, this is what you’re doing.’”
It was a big deal when Noble secured admission to the Boston Latin School, a prestigious school near Fenway Park. But his mother asked him to think about it before she sent in his paperwork. She asked her son, would he take his studies seriously? Would he be ready to work hard? Can he commit himself? Noble said he would.
Years later, he found out that his mom already had sent in the paperwork. But Della Noble wanted her son to feel a sense of ownership in his decision. She believed her son could do it. And now Noble empowers and supports the kids at Imhotep the same way his mom did. If a kid on his team wants to visit a college, Noble often is driving the car. If a kid has a problem in school, Noble’s door is open.
Imhotep’s Andre Noble (left) shown with Justin Edwards during the 2023 Public League championship game against West Philly. Edwards now plays for the Sixers.
“You realize that there’s way more important things in life,” Noble said. “If we can get them to be the best young men we can be, then the rest of their lives will be meaningful. There’s so many things you can teach through basketball.”
Becoming one of Philly’s all-time coaches is about more than just breaking a press or drawing up an inbounds play with seconds left. Noble proved that an outsider can do it, too.
“There’s a trust that he has with his players that we all try to search for in relationships with the kids,” Dunphy said. “I think he’s found that secret. To be honest with you, I don’t know if I ever sat down with him and said, ‘Yo, what is your secret?’ I think he would be so humble, and he’d say, ‘I don’t know. I’m just being myself.’ It’s what makes mentorship so important to all of us. You have to be there for the young people.”
Noble has surrounded himself with a crew of assistant coaches who grew up in Philly. He has embraced the city’s basketball history and has now spent more time here than he did in Boston. He’s an adopted Philly guy.
Charles “Shoob” Monroe, who organizes an annual showcase game for the city’s top high schoolers, said Noble knows more about old-school Philly basketball than people who actually lived here. No, he’s not from Philly. But Noble became a part of it.
“Someone always knows someone or knows someone who knows someone,” said Arrigale, who could win his 13th Catholic League title on Sunday when his Neumann Goretti squad plays Father Judge. “He didn’t really have that experience because no one played against him and things like that. But he’s been around long enough that he knows everyone now. He’s had a pretty good run over there.”
A father figure
Twiggs’ son now plays for the Sixers but once was a teenager who didn’t clean his room or finish his homework. And when that happened, Twiggs knew to call the guy from Boston.
“Justin would come home and be like, ‘You told on me,’” Twiggs said.
Twiggs, a single mother who worked two jobs to keep her son’s dream alive, said Noble was like “a father figure” to her son. He wasn’t from Philly but that was OK.
“Justin lacked that growing up,” Twiggs said of a male role model. “Having Brother Andre and the whole coaching staff just be so hands on with Justin took a lot of stress off for me.”
Andre Noble has enough accolades to coach in college. He’s instead decided to stay at Imhotep.
Edwards is one of the many players Noble coached who moved onto a Division I program. By now, the coach who didn’t play high school ball has enough accolades to coach in college. He’s instead decided to stay at Imhotep.
A few years ago, Mills’ son, Timmy, graduated from Imhotep. He brought his son to see Noble and tell the story about how two students triggered Noble to start a team. It was true, Noble said. And that helped the guy from Boston find a home in Philly.
“I love what I get to do,” Noble said. “I love the school. I love serving this community. I don’t see myself anywhere else. I don’t rule anything out, but if I have the opportunity to coach and lead at Imhotep until the rest of my career, that would be a blessing. The one-year plan definitely didn’t work out. I failed in that.”
When two of Philadelphia’s most trusted institutions come together, the impact can extend far beyond the field and well outside hospital walls. This February, Jefferson Health and the Philadelphia Eagles announced a landmark new chapter in their long-standing partnership. The team’s training facility will be renamed the Jefferson Health Training Complex, anchoring a collaboration focused on community health, education, and long-term well-being across the region. For both organizations, the name represents a shared statement of purpose.
“Our mission is rooted in our core values: to put people first, pursue excellence, and do what’s right,” Joseph G. Cacchione, MD, the CEO of Jefferson, said. “By aligning with an organization that shares our commitment to excellence, teamwork, and community impact, we’re creating new opportunities to elevate health education, expand prevention efforts, and inspire people across the region to engage with their own well-being. This partnership amplifies our ability to meet people where they are, while staying grounded in the values that define Jefferson as a not-for-profit anchor institution.”
The renaming of the Eagles training facility is only one recent example of Jefferson’s ongoing commitment to the Philly community. Over the years, the health system has advanced health education and workforce development initiatives designed to expand access to care beyond traditional clinical settings.
In 2023, for instance, Jefferson launched its Community Health Worker Academy, a 13-month training and workforce development program that prepares new patient care professionals to support individuals and families within their own communities. Jefferson has also partnered with local venues, including faith-based organizations, to provide health services and outreach in places where people already gather, helping to reduce barriers to preventive care. To underscore this commitment, Jefferson Health recently announced a new collaboration with the Hatfield Ice Center in Colmar, Pa., where it has provided health screenings and wellness programming. The iconic rink will now be known as Jefferson Health Arenas at Hatfield Ice.
In 2025, Jefferson partnered with Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church for a Black Maternal Health Community Baby Shower. The event offered health screenings, diabetes education, maternity care support, childbirth education, and more.
Recently, the system also partnered with the Cherry Hill, N.J., mayor’s office on its “Healthier Together” wellness campaign, a community‑focused effort aimed at improving health through education, screenings, and active living. In 2026, Jefferson hosted the “Champion Your Health” event at Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital, created in collaboration with Mayor David Fleisher. The event offered engaging, family‑friendly demonstrations such as CPR practice, fitness sessions, and healthy cooking, all designed to empower residents with practical tools for better living.
As part of the “Healthier Together” partnership, Jefferson Health also plays a central role in supporting the mayor’s monthly Wellness Walks, a community tradition that encourages people of all ages to stay active. Jefferson clinicians contribute to the campaign by providing blood pressure and glucose screenings, as well as by leading educational sessions on mental wellness, resilience, and setting healthy intentions.
Overall, the “Healthier Together” initiative reflects a shared commitment to giving New Jersey residents accessible, preventive health resources. By combining education, movement, and nutrition guidance, the partnership seeks to strengthen community well‑being and promote a balanced, active lifestyle.
A Cornerstone Investment in Community Health
The Jefferson Health Training Complex will serve as the physical and symbolic cornerstone of its Eagles partnership, a home for elite athletic performance. The naming reinforces Jefferson’s role as a regional and national leader of health, education, workforce development, and research — the $17 billion enterprise includes more than 30 hospitals and 700 care sites across Pennsylvania and New Jersey, a health plan, and a leading academic institution that employs more than 65,000 people.
For the Eagles, the partnership reflects a decades-long commitment to using the sport of football as a force for good, a value long championed by the organization’s ownership. Its impact is ensured by Jefferson’s broad reach and the institutions’ shared connection to the same communities. Jefferson has been one of the Eagles longest-running relationships. Over the years, that partnership has fueled many community initiatives, which have supported breast cancer, autism research, and other causes.
Reaching Communities Where They Are
Jefferson’s community health efforts currently span the full range of programs for the public, including healthy food access, workforce development, and mobile cancer screenings. Other initiatives like JeffCARES empower members of the Jefferson community to take action to address critical social needs, foster engagement, and make a meaningful impact in our diverse neighborhoods and communities through partnerships with local non-profits.
“We’ve seen extraordinary results from programs like our Community Health Worker Academy, a program that creates pathways into health care careers and measurably improves patient outcomes,” Cacchione said.
In October 2025, JeffCARES partnered with the Malcolm Jenkins Foundation to organize Get Ready Fest in Philadelphia. The community event provided 800 families with groceries, health screenings, and employment resources.
The Community Health Worker Academy, which recently became the first in the United States to earn CHW accreditation from the Utilization Review Accreditation Committee (URAC), trains trusted local residents to serve as health advocates in their own neighborhoods, helping to bridge the gap between communities and access to care. “Our partnership with the Eagles strengthens those efforts,” Cacchione said.
What distinguishes the expansion of this partnership between Jefferson and the Eagles is this explicit focus on providing care to their communities outside of traditional health settings. Instead, the partners are offering educational resources and more at gathering places like Eagles games.
Through programs like Crucial Catch, the NFL and the American Cancer Society’s campaign to fight cancer through early detection, the partnership has provided health care workers at the stadium and recognized cancer survivors during halftime events. Jefferson’s mobile cancer screening vans have also appeared at games, offering screening education and information, proving their slogan: “Driven to Improve Lives.”
“The credibility and visibility the Eagles bring helps us reach individuals who may be hesitant to engage with traditional health care settings,” Nick Ragone, the Jefferson executive vice president and chief marketing officer, said. “When the Eagles encourage fans to prioritize their health, it opens doors we couldn’t open alone.”
“That’s exactly the kind of partnership we want to build on,” Cacchione said. “Meeting people where they are, using trusted voices to break down barriers, and ultimately saving lives through early detection and prevention.”
A Legacy of Philanthropy and Purpose
The partnership also aligns naturally with the Eagles’ long track record of philanthropy. After purchasing the team in 1994, Jeffrey Lurie and his family built robust community impact platforms, including the Eagles Youth Partnership, the Eagles Eye Mobile, and the Go Green initiative, one of the first comprehensive sustainability efforts in professional sports.
The Eagles’ commitment to health-related causes is most visible in the Eagles Autism Foundation, launched by Lurie in 2017 and inspired by his younger brother, who was diagnosed with the condition as a child. The foundation has raised more than $40 million to support autism research and services, directing funds to institutions like Jefferson.
Baligh Yehia, president of Jefferson Health, and Danielle Klingerman, an oncology nurse at Jefferson Einstein Montgomery, celebrate the NFL’s Crucial Catch initiative and honor cancer survivors during an on-field ceremony at a 2025 Eagles game.
“As the team’s Official Health System Partner, Jefferson Health will collaborate with us on year-round community initiatives, focusing on health education and screenings, preventive care awareness, and engagement programs aligned with many of the team’s key priorities, such as the Eagles Autism Foundation and the annual ‛Crucial Catch: Intercept Cancer’ game,” Don Smolenski, the president of the Eagles, said. “Jefferson is an ideal partner because they share our core belief that a sports organization is a force for good far beyond the playing field,” he said.
“The long-standing partnership between the Eagles and Jefferson Health has been built on a shared commitment to the region we serve,” Smolenski said. “This [new] multi-year extension marks a defining moment in our partnership, one that will now call the Jefferson Health Training Complex home to the Philadelphia Eagles.”
Building Healthier Futures Together
In 2024, Jefferson invested $1.8 billion in community benefits, in addition to providing 10 million patient visits, while expanding programs that address social determinants of health. “By working with the Eagles, we’re able to take those initiatives out into the community with even greater visibility and reach,” Cacchione said. “It strengthens our ability to improve long-term health outcomes and ensure every community has access to the resources they need to thrive.”
“I hope it sends the message that health is something to be proactive about, not something to wait on,” Cacchione said. “Whether you’re a young athlete, a parent, or simply a fan, taking care of your health today builds a stronger future. This partnership is a reminder that prevention matters, that early action saves lives, and that Jefferson and the Eagles are united in supporting the well-being of every person in our region.”
If the Melchionni name was not already decorated enough in Villanova history, now it is getting a second chance.
Villanova junior long-stick midfielder Jake Melchionni was a unanimous selection on this year’s All-Big East preseason lacrosse team. Last season, he was named the Big East’s Co-Specialist of the Year — the first Wildcat to ever earn that honor — and to the All-Big East First Team after collecting a team-high 24 forced turnovers, eight goals, three assists, and 49 ground balls.
Sixty years earlier, Melchionni’s grandfather, Bill Melchionni, was a household name in college basketball. He averaged 27.6 points during his senior season on the Main Line and was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1666 National Invitation Tournament (NIT). Villanova retired his No. 25 jersey in 1995.
Melchionni was drafted in the second round of the 1966 NBA draft by the 76ers, with whom he won the 1967 NBA title. He also won two American Basketball Association (ABA) championships with the New York Nets and was a three-time All-Star in the ABA, leading the league in assists three times. With the Nets, he played alongside Ricky Barry and Julius Erving.
Jake Melchionni, who also wore No. 25 the past two seasons, has the opportunity to carry on his family’s name at Villanova, but this time on the lacrosse field. He remembers going to Villanova basketball games as a kid with his grandfather. The school has since held a special place for him.
“Just kind of growing up around the Villanova basketball culture with his friends, Coach [Jay] Wright is obviously a good friend of his, always seeing him,” Melchionni said. “And he’s obviously the biggest Villanova person that I know. So I think when I was getting recruited, it’s just knowing that there are people who really love and care about this place. It’s just such a special thing to me.”
Jake Melchionni pictured with his grandfather, Bill Melchionni, at Finneran Pavilion.
Bill Melchionni is partially to credit for his family’s involvement in lacrosse. When Bill was playing in the American Basketball Association (ABA) for the New York Nets, he and his family lived on Long Island, one of the most popular lacrosse hotbeds in the country.
“When my grandpa was playing for them, it was the New York Nets,” Jake Melchionni said. “They were living in Garden City, N.Y., which is Long Island, which is obviously the lacrosse powerhouse. So my dad played lacrosse [at] not too young an age, but has played pretty much his whole life. I played hockey and soccer and a couple other sports from a young age, but it’s always really been lacrosse at the forefront.”
Melchionni grew up playing lacrosse in Bernardsville, N.J., after picking up the sport from his parents, Christina and Keith Melchionni. His father played Division I lacrosse at Duke, while his mother played at Trinity.
Melchionni’s father was also a long-stick midfielder.
“He was an All-American at Duke,” Melchionni said.” He obviously knows the game better than anyone. So I think obviously some parents like to give advice to kids and sports, and even lacrosse and stuff like that, but just having a dad who played the same position and knows that position really well, he knows the little things that I did wrong, the little things that I did right. It’s just so easy from a young age to lean on him and just always have him in my corner after games and before games.”
The first time Bill Melchionni saw Keith play lacrosse, he was stunned.
“I never saw a lacrosse game until [Jake’s dad played],” Bill Melchionni said. “So his dad didn’t start playing lacrosse until ninth grade. And I had never seen the game. I had no idea about the game, but I remember the first time I went to see him play, I said to him, ‘This is nuts.’ I mean, these guys are out [there] whacking each other over sticks and stuff, and the goalie’s got no protection.”
It was a large contrast from basketball, which Bill Melchionni is all too comfortable with. However, it did not stop him from supporting his family in playing lacrosse.
Jake Melchionni is a junior midfielder for Villanova lacrosse.
“My grandpa, he’s a massive supporter of mine,” Jake Melchionni said. “I pretty much talk to him every day and definitely after every game and stuff like that. And it’s just really fun.”
Recently, the two were seen in the crowd for Villanova basketball’s game against Seton Hall on Feb. 4, where they were shown on the video board during the second half.
“When he comes back, he’s really respected at basketball games,” Melchionni said. “So that’s really cool to see. And it’s definitely something that I think is really cool.”.
With most of the season still in front of the team, Villanova men’s lacrosse coach Mike Corrado saw a large improvement from Melchonni in his sophomore year and expects the same this season.
“He plays long-stick middie, which is kind of a unique position,” Corrado said. “And I’ve coached a long time, and we’ve had some great ones, and they’re usually great with sticks.
“They’re usually really good off the ground. They’re usually very good at transition. And a lot of times, they aren’t the most studious with six-on-six basic base core defensive principles. I would say the area that Jake has improved in the most is his ability to operate in the six-on-six defense. They have the ball, and we’re on defense, and we got to try to stop them. And so he’s definitely improved in that area.”
Villanova is coming off back-to-back seasons where they lost in the Big East championship game. Melchionni and the Wildcats (1-1) will look to get past that obstacle and earn their way into the NCAA Tournament this time around.
“The Big East tournament, Big East championship is number one on our list,” Melchionni said. “But it’s deeper than that, I know it’s a little cliché to say, but it’s really just focusing on one game. Just the step ahead. I just think it’s getting 1% better every day.”
Whatever unfolds almost certainly won’t resemble what came down from the skies on Jan. 25 or its obstructive aftermath, but accumulating snow Sunday into Monday is looking more likely.
The National Weather Service on Friday listed a 90% chance of precipitation, with a 75% likelihood of two inches or more of snow for the immediate Philadelphia region, and about a one in three shot of at least six inches.
And add about a 100% chance of uncertainty regarding how this would play out, said Richard G. Bann, a forecaster with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Weather Prediction Center, in College Park, Md.
Computer models continued to show a wide range of outcomes from a storm that was still two days away from developing, ranging from a gentle snowfall to a school and road closer. Expect differences to persist.
In addition to snow, a potent storm with powerful onshore winds could result in coastal flooding, the weather service office in Mount Holly advised.
“I don’t think we would jump to either end of the extremes,” Bann said, “but we can’t say anything is completely out of the realm of possibility just yet.”
The storm would evolve from multiple moving parts before maturing off the Southeast coast, he added. “Part of the equation is starting to come together but we’re still not there yet.”
By Saturday, he said, “hopefully we’ll kind of know what part of the chessboard we’re working on.”
When snow might begin in the Philly region
Timing issues are among those likely to be fine-tuned in the next couple of days, but the early thinking is that snow, or rain changing to snow, would arrive in the Philly region Sunday morning or in the afternoon, continuing into Monday.
The intensity of the snow and winds would depend on the strength of the storm, precisely where over the ocean it ripens, and the eventual track.
The U.S. model has been bullish on bringing it close enough for a major snowfall along I-95. The other models, not so much, but the weather service noted that one of the balkers, the European, had come on board with at least light accumulations for the region.
“We’re definitely going to be spinning up an area of low pressure,” Bann said, “but exactly what that means for D.C., Philly — any of us — is still in question.”
But on the plus side: No ice is expected in this go-round.
So much for the remnants of Jan. 25
One of the most-stubborn snowpacks in the period of record, which has mutated into one of the uglier snowpacks in the period of record, should be pretty much erased by the time any flakes start falling Sunday.
Submerged objects have been reappearing, evoking a surfacing submarine, and bare ground is becoming ever more visible.
A decent, soaking rain on Friday — perhaps double Philly’s month total so far, a mere 0.25 inches — and temperatures in the 40s, combined with a sunny Saturday with high near 50 degrees, should pretty well clear the yards. Those plowed-snow mountains are likely to survive a while longer.
The snowpack’s tenacity had everything to do with the two to three inches of sleet — melt-resistant white ice — that fell atop the several inches of snow on Jan. 25. The entire mess was locked in by an Arctic freeze.
Bann endured similar conditions in his area, and recalled that it was way harder to move out of the way than the Mid-Atlantic mega-snows of February 2010, when 35 to 45 inches accumulated.
He said he shoveled awhile, took a break, and then was astonished to see that his neighbors were finishing his work.
Asked if he sent them any thank-you gifts, he replied: “I haven’t stopped.”
After a cold, snow-filled winter in Philadelphia, the city is finally getting its first glimpse at spring, thanks to the Phillies.
The Phillies’ 2026 spring training schedule kicks off Saturday afternoon against the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin, Fla., followed by their Clearwater debut Sunday at BayCare Ballpark, their Sunshine State home since 2004.
Fans will be able to tune in to more spring training games than ever. Between NBC Sports Philadelphia, the MLB Network, 94.1 WIP, and the Phillies themselves, there will be a broadcast for all but three games of this year’s 30-game Grapefruit League schedule.
There’s also Aidan Miller, the No. 23 prospect in baseball. The 22-year-old shortstop is expected to start the season in Triple-A, but will get some playing time at third base during spring training, according to my colleague Scott Lauber. That would set up Miller for an early promotion if Alex Bohm gets off to a slow start.
As far as new faces, the most prominent is outfielder Adolis García, who is replacing Nick Castellanos and is just two seasons removed from hitting 39 home runs for the Texas Rangers.
Here’s everything you need to know to watch or stream Phillies spring training games:
What channel are Phillies spring training games on?
Phillies broadcasters Tom McCarthy (left) and John Kruk will be back again for NBC Sports Philadelphia.
The bulk of the Phillies’ televised spring training games will air on NBC Sports Philadelphia, which plans to broadcast 17 games — nine on the main channel and eight on NBC Sports Philadelphia+. That’s a big jump from last year, when it aired 12 games.
The schedule includes an exhibition game against Team Canada on March 4 serving as a warm-up for this year’s World Baseball Classic. The multicountry tournament begins on March 5 in Tokyo, and the Phillies will be well-represented — 11 players, including Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber, will leave spring training early to participate.
Returning for his 19th season as the TV voice of the Phillies is play-by-play announcer Tom McCarthy, who will be joined in the booth by a familiar cast of analysts that includes Rubén Amaro Jr., Ben Davis, and John Kruk.
MLB Network will broadcast six Phillies spring training games (though just two will be available in the Philly TV market due to blackout rules). ESPN won’t be airing any — the network is broadcasting just four spring training games on their main channel, and six more on its ESPN Unlimited subscription service.
Radio listeners can tune into 94.1 WIP to hear 10 weekend games. Play-by-play announcer Scott Franzke is back for his 21st season calling the Phillies, joined once again by a rotation featuring veteran analyst Larry Anderson and Kevin Stocker.
Cole Hamels will be back, but not Taryn Hatcher
Former Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels (right) called nine games last season for NBC Sports Philadelphia.
A little bit of Hollywood will be back in the Phillies booth this season.
2008 World Series MVP Cole Hamels will call a few spring training games for the second straight season, beginning in the middle of March. Hamels was something of a natural in the booth last season, calling the nine regular-season games he worked a “crash course” in broadcasting.
“I tried to tell myself, ‘Don’t overtalk. Don’t be long-winded. Don’t just talk to talk,’” Hamels told The Inquirer in September. “I start watching the game and enjoying it, and I forget sometimes I have to talk.”
Taryn Hatcher, seen here during a 2019 media softball game.
One NBC Sports personality who won’t be back is Taryn Hatcher, who joined the network in 2018 and spent the past few seasons covering the game as an in-stadium reporter.
Hatcher’s contract wasn’t renewed at the end of the year and NBC Sports Philadelphia eliminated the position, according to sources.
You can also stream NBC Sports Philadelphia on Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV, which will soon roll out a skinny sports bundle. And NBC Sports Philadelphia will stream its games on the NBC Sports app, but a subscription to a cable service is required.
One streaming service where you won’t find the network is Fubo, which hasn’t broadcast any NBC channels since November due to a carriage dispute. NBC Sports Philadelphia is also not available on Sling TV or DirecTV Stream.
For the third straight season, the Phillies will also exclusively stream a handful of spring training games from BayCare Ballpark for free on the team’s website.
The team will also provide an audio-only feed for a few midweek road games that aren’t airing on WIP.
Are there any new MLB rules in spring training?
Umpires will have their balls and strikes face challenges this season.
There aren’t any new rules in play during spring training, but MLB is fully rolling out its automatic ball-strike (ABS) challenge system ahead of its launch in the regular season. The Phillies plan on giving it a healthy test drive.
The rules are pretty straightforward. Pitchers, catchers, or batters can challenge a ball or strike by taping their head immediately after the umpire’s call.
Each team starts the game with two challenges, which they only lose when a challenge is unsuccessful. If a team has no challenges remaining and the game goes into extra innings, they’re awarded one per inning until the game is over.
Phillies news and spring training updates
Trea Turner fields a ground ball during spring training Wednesday.
Trea Turner was still the fastest man in the league at 32. Here’s his secret.
The Phillies will open the season against the Texas Rangers at Citizens Bank Park.
The Phillies are scheduled to open the 2026 season on March 26 against the Texas Rangers at Citizens Bank Park, where the team will hang its 2025 NL East pennant.
Tyrese Martin was in the crowd of Allentown’s new PPL Center in October 2014, when the 76ers played a preseason game in the city for the first time in 40 years. The teenage Martin even got a photo with K.J. McDaniels, then a Sixers rookie.
Fast forward more than a decade, and Martin on Thursday morning stood in a back hallway of Xfinity Mobile Arena following his first shootaround as a Sixer.
Martin was inactive for Thursday’s 117-107 loss to the Atlanta Hawks, with coach Nick Nurse noting that the coaching staff “obviously [has not] seen hardly any of him yet.” Terry, who signed his deal just before the All-Star break, also did not play.
Payne, however, immediately got back on the floor. Though he missed all three shot attempts, the 31-year-old totaled five of the Sixers’ 17 assists in less than 10 minutes.
“I’m figuring them out,” Payne said of his new teammates. “… I feel like we played fast when I was here [for the end of the 2023-24 season], but they play a lot faster now.”
Nurse said before Thursday’s loss that he also views Martin primarily as a point guard. He averaged 7.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in 37 games with the Brooklyn Nets, then was released to free up roster spots at the trade deadline.
Before a November game against the Sixers, Nets coach Jordi Fernandez described Martin as a “grown up” and “rock star” inside Brooklyn’s deep rebuild and was a player to whom coaches could direct young teammates and say, “Look how he does it.” Nurse on Thursday also commended Martin’s basketball IQ, along with his 6-foot-6, 215-pound frame.
Yet on a Sixers team vying for playoff positioning — their 30-25 record is sixth in the Eastern Conference entering Friday — Martin most believes he can make an immediate impact as a defender who can pressure the ball and pick up 94 feet.
“Just play tough,” Martin said. “I think that’s where I can find myself fitting in real fast on this team.”
Martin’s opportunity became possible once the Sixers signed Walker to a standard contract on Thursday. After Walker could not play in the Sixers’ previous four matchups because he had exhausted his 50 active NBA games allowed on a two-way deal, he acknowledged “worrying a little bit” about his future while spending time with loved ones during the All-Star break.
But while Walker was sidelined, Nurse recognized that the Sixers “really need” the 6-foot-8, 235-pounder’s physicality as a rebounder and interior defender. Walker totaled four points, three rebounds, two assists and one steal — including a second-half highlight sequence when he hit a three-pointer, then corralled a steal and lofted an alley-oop pass to Adem Bona — in 10 minutes, 16 seconds of his return game against Atlanta.
Barlow, meanwhile, remained in the starting lineup with Paul George still suspended for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy. Nurse was pleased both players had their contracts converted this month because “they just earned it, and they deserved it.”
“Young, hungry, playing-hard guys that I think we can have in our organization,” Nurse said. “We want [players like that]. I’m glad those guys got rewarded — both of them.”
Those contract conversions — plus other recent examples, such as Justin Edwards last season and Ricky Council IV in 2024 — demonstrate that the Sixers will use two-way players who provide value. Martin appreciates such evidence of opportunity. He took the floor for an early pregame on-court session Thursday and said he is working to quickly learn staffers’ names.
Nurse is unsure when Martin could see game action, with the Sixers entering a stretch of three road matchups in four nights. Yet Martin’s addition could complete the Sixers’ post-trade deadline roster, and it allowed him to join the NBA team closest to his hometown.
“We’ll get into what my path and my thing is for the rest of the season going forward,” Martin said. “But right now, I’ll just do what I’ve done when I was in this situation before and bet on myself.”
