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7:30 PM ET, February 21, 2026

Top Items:

Trump Says He Will Raise Global Tariff to 15 Percent — The move signaled anew that the president would press ahead with his trade war despite the legal setback from the Supreme Court. — President Trump announced Saturday that he would raise his new, global tariff to 15 percent …

Discussion: Persuasion, Mother Jones, The Hill, OutsideTheBeltway and Congressman Hakeem Jeffries

Ben Johansen / Politico:

Trump hikes ‘temporary’ global tariff rate to 15 percent, maximizing authority in wake of Supreme Court blow … It comes less than 24 hours after he invoked Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president to impose tariffs up to 15 percent to address a “large and serious balance …

Ilya Somin / The Atlantic:

How the Supreme Court Spared America — The ruling against Trump's tariffs is a major victory for the constitutional separation of powers, rule of law, and millions of American consumers and businesses. — In a 6-3 decision yesterday, the Supreme Court rightly ruled that …

Discussion: Reason, MS NOW, Lawyers, Guns & Money, USA Today, Election Law Blog, Reuters, The Daily Wire, NewsMax.com, Bloomberg, New Jersey Business News, 19FortyFive, Fox News, New York Sun, CalMatters, City Journal, New York Post and Washington Post

Edward Helmore / The Guardian:

US businesses clamor for refunds after supreme court strikes down Trump's tariffs — Refunds were not addressed by supreme court ruling, and they'll likely play out in lower courts over extended period — Top associations of American businesses are demanding to be repaid …

Discussion: Joe.My.God., Bloomberg, The Hill, New York Times, Washington Examiner, NC Newsline, The Colorado Sun and MS NOW

Steve Kopack / NBC News:

Trump raises global tariff to 15% shortly after implementing reworked 10% levy — Most of Trump's tariffs were struck down by the Supreme Court on Friday in a 6-3 decision. — President Donald Trump on Saturday said that he was hiking his newly announced global tariff to 15%, less than a day after announcing a 10% worldwide duty.

Andrew Chung / Reuters:
With tariffs ruling, Supreme Court reasserts its power to check Trump

Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:
Today, in a 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court found that President Donald J. Trump's …

Discussion: Global News, Reason, Salon, The Hill, The i Paper, Axios, The Atlantic, Bangor Daily News, JURISTnews, El País, Mediaite, HotAir, New Jersey 101.5, Fox News, GB News, WNYW-TV and Talking Points Memo

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
The Fix Is In: Lutnick Family Could Make Killing On Tariff Demise

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Semafor, WTTG-TV, 77 WABC, The Parnas Perspective, Raw Story, Joe.My.God., Lawyers, Guns & Money and New Republic

Financial Times:
Corporate America demands refunds after Donald Trump's tariffs are struck down

Wall Street Journal:
Trump Increases Global Tariff to 15%

Discussion: Associated Press, The Independent, The Hill, Tampa Free Press, The Japan Times, archive.ph, GV Wire, The National Pulse and NPR, more at Techmeme »

Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:
In tariff case, Supreme Court justices bicker over treating Trump and Biden differently

Discussion: The Dispatch, Talking Points Memo, Roll Call, HuffPost, Courthouse News Service, Reason, KVIA-TV, Above the Law, E&E News, Mother Jones, Reuters and Alternet.org

Wall Street Journal:
The Real Tariff Liberation Day Arrives at the Supreme Court

Jenny Kleeman / The Guardian:

'Don't go to the US - not with Trump in charge': the UK tourist with a valid visa detained by ICE for six weeks — Karen Newton was in America on the trip of a lifetime when she was shackled, transported and held for weeks on end. With tourism to the US under increasing strain, she says …

Discussion: Raw Story, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Just An Earth-Bound Misfit, I

Sam Levin / The Guardian:

DoJ cases against protesters keep collapsing as officers' lies are exposed in court — String of embarrassing defeats for prosecutors as experts condemn DoJ effort to cast people as ‘violent perpetrators’ — Department of Justice prosecutors across the US have suffered a string …

Discussion: The Parnas Perspective and Alternet.org

ABC News:

Over 40 million Americans on alert for winter storm conditions over the weekend — New York City is under a blizzard warning for the first time since March 2017. — A child plays in the snow in front of Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan skyline in the Brooklyn Borough of New York City, U.S., February 16, 2026.

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Examiner, Tampa Free Press, Washington Post, Staten Island Advance, New York Post, Breitbart, NewsMax.com, CBS News, Joe.My.God., Forbes, New Jersey Online, WNYW-TV, New Jersey 101.5 and Boston.com

Bucks County Courier Times:

Quakertown parents, groups demand release of students in police clash — Civil rights organizations and parents are calling for an investigation into the violent clash between Quakertown police and high school students Friday during an ICE protest, and they want the arrested teens immediately released …

Discussion: PennLive

Rebecca Schneid / Time:

Pope Leo Will Spend July 4 Visiting Island Known For Migrant Crossings … The decision also comes just days after Pope Leo declined an invitation to join Trump's Board of Peace, a U.S.-led initiative launched by the president with the ostensible aim of rebuilding Gaza and solving other conflicts.

Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:

Special Saturday Triad: What I Saw at the Battle of Minneapolis — 1. War — I understand that spending three days on the ground in Minneapolis is not real perspective. But it brought home something that may not be obvious from afar: Minnesota, especially the Twin Cities, has been …

Washington Post:

Trump aides struggle with how to spend $500 billion more on military — The White House budget chief was among those who internally objected to the defense secretary's plan to increase military spending by roughly 50 percent, sources say. — Trump administration officials have struggled …

Discussion: Raw Story and Alternet.org

Sasha Rogelberg / Fortune:

The U.S. spent $30 billion to ditch textbooks for laptops and tablets: The result is the first generation less cognitively capable than their parents — In 2002, Maine became the first state to implement a statewide laptop program to some grade levels. Then-Governor Angus King saw the program …

Carl Hulse / New York Times:

Senate G.O.P. Faces Pressure to Force ‘Talking Filibuster’ for Voter I.D. Bill — Some reluctant Republicans say an old-school filibuster showdown with Democrats could paralyze the Senate with no guarantee of success. But President Trump and their own colleagues are spoiling for the fight.

FEMA.gov:

President Donald J. Trump Approves Emergency Declaration for the District of Columbia — WASHINGTON — FEMA announced today that federal disaster assistance is available to the District of Columbia to supplement response efforts due to emergency conditions resulting from a sewer line collapse from Jan. 19, 2026, and continuing.

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Straight Arrow News, Washington Times, NewsMax.com and Fox News

Phil Helsel / NBC News:

U.S. military says it struck another alleged drug boat in eastern Pacific, killing 3 — U.S. Southern Command alleged that the boat was “engaged in narco-trafficking operations.” — Listen to this article with a free account — The U.S. military said that it struck an alleged drug trafficking boat …

Discussion: New York Post and Reuters

Eric Schmitt / New York Times:
U.S. Kills 3 in Latest Boat Strike

Discussion: Washington Times, Associated Press, NewsMax.com, The Gateway Pundit, The Hill and KVIA-TV

Associated Press:

ICE is quietly buying warehouses for detention centers and leaving local officials out of the loop — In a Texas town at the edge of the Rio Grande and a tall metal border wall, rumors swirled that federal immigration officials wanted to purchase three hulking warehouses to transform into a detention center.

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Independent and New Jersey Online

NBC News:

CIA retracts and revises reports for ‘bias’ after review by Trump-appointed board — CIA Director John Ratcliffe said the changes would affect 19 reports from the last decade and highlighted three from the Biden and Obama administrations. — CIA Director John Ratcliffe said Friday …

Discussion: RedState, The Federalist, CIA, Fox News, KVIA-TV and New York Post

Paul Kane / Washington Post:

Congress could get a healthy pay raise, courtesy of the courts — A group of former members and veteran lawmakers have advanced an unusual lawsuit that could lead to larger salaries. — For more than 15 years, members of Congress have blocked themselves from receiving an automatic cost …

Discussion: NTU

Associated Press:

US military airlifts small reactor as Trump pushes to quickly deploy nuclear power — HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah — The Pentagon and the Energy Department for the first time airlifted a small nuclear reactor from California to Utah, demonstrating what they say is U.S. potential …

Discussion: Washington Examiner

Newsweek:

DHS Confirms Third US Citizen Killing After Newsweek Investigation — The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has told Newsweek that a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent fired “defensive shots” at a driver after he “intentionally ran over” another federal agent.