PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Saquon Barkley has declined an invitation to join President Donald Trump's council on sports, fitness, and nutrition, which is being revitalized under an executive order that also reestablishes the Presidential Fitness Test for American children.
Barkley, the 2,000-yard rusher for the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, was on a list of sports personalities that included golfers Bryson DeChambeau and Nelly Korda, WWE executive Paul “Triple H” Levesque, football Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor and retired New York Yankees great Mariano Rivera.
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Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley runs during practice at the team’s NFL football training camp, Thursday, July 24, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley runs on to the field during practice at the team’s NFL football training camp, Thursday, July 24, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley speaks during a news conference at the team’s NFL football training camp, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley speaks waits for his turn to speak at a news conference during the team’s NFL football training camp, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Barkley said Monday following Eagles' practice that he had actually declined the invitation.
“A couple months ago, it was brought to my team about the council," Barkley said. "So I’m not really too familiar with it. I felt like that I am going to be super busy. Me and my family thought it would probably be of best interest to not accept that. I was definitely a little shocked when my name was mentioned. I’m assuming it’s something great, so I appreciate it but was a little shocked when my name was mentioned.”
Trump last week reestablished the Presidential Fitness Test for American children, a fixture of public schools for decades that gauged young people’s health and athleticism with 1-mile runs, sit-ups and stretching exercises.
“This is a wonderful tradition, and we’re bringing it back,” Trump said of the fitness test that began in 1966 but was phased out during the Obama administration.
The executive order also reinvigorated the national sports council that could have included Barkley.
Barkley won AP Offensive Player of the Year last season after rushing for 2,005 yards, eighth-best in NFL history, in his first season with the Eagles.
Barkley has golfed with Trump and former President Barack Obama over the last year and the running back attended the White House celebration of the champion Eagles while some teammates — notably star quarterback Jalen Hurts — skipped the ceremony.
Barkley visited Trump in April at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and caught a ride with the president to Washington on Air Force One and then to the White House on Marine One.
“He loved it,” Trump said then of Barkley’s short flight on the presidential airplane. “He’s a great young guy and an incredible football player. Saquon had a season for the ages, running behind the most powerful offensive line in the NFL."
Barkley, meanwhile, pushed back on social media criticism following the visit. He noted that he had already golfed with Obama, a Democrat.
“Maybe I just respect the office, not a hard concept to understand,” Barkley posted on X.
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley runs during practice at the team’s NFL football training camp, Thursday, July 24, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley runs on to the field during practice at the team’s NFL football training camp, Thursday, July 24, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley speaks during a news conference at the team’s NFL football training camp, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley speaks waits for his turn to speak at a news conference during the team’s NFL football training camp, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison Friday in the first verdict from eight criminal trials over the martial law debacle that forced him out of office and other allegations.
Yoon was impeached, arrested and dismissed as president after his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024 triggered huge public protests calling for his ouster.
The most significant criminal charge against him alleges that his martial law enforcement amounted to a rebellion, An independent counsel has requested the death sentence over that charge, and the Seoul Central District Court will decide on that in a ruling on Feb. 19.
Yoon has maintained he didn’t intend to place the country under military rule for an extended period, saying his decree was only meant to inform the people about the danger of the liberal-controlled parliament obstructing his agenda. But investigators have viewed Yoon’s decree as an attempt to bolster and prolong his rule, charging him with rebellion, abuse of power and other criminal offenses.
In Friday’s case, the Seoul court sentenced Yoon for defying attempts to detain him and fabricating the martial law proclamation. He was also sentenced for sidestepping a legally mandated full Cabinet meeting, which deprived some Cabinet members who were not convened of their rights to deliberate on his decree.
Judge Baek Dae-hyun said in the televised ruling that imposing “a heavy punishment” was necessary because Yoon hasn’t shown remorse and has only repeated “hard-to-comprehend excuses.” The judge also said restoring legal systems damaged by Yoon’s action was necessary.
Yoon’s defense team said they will appeal the ruling, which they believe was “politicized” and reflected “the unliberal arguments by the independent counsel.” Yoon’s defense team argued the ruling “oversimplified the boundary between the exercise of the president’s constitutional powers and criminal liability.”
Park SungBae, a lawyer who specializes in criminal law, said there is little chance the court would decide Yoon should face the death penalty in the rebellion case. He said the court will likely issue a life sentence or a sentence of 30 years or more in prison.
South Korea has maintained a de facto moratorium on executions since 1997 and courts rarely hand down death sentences. Park said the court would take into account that Yoon’s decree didn’t cause casualties and didn’t last long, although Yoon hasn’t shown genuine remorse for his action.
South Korea has a history of pardoning former presidents who were jailed over diverse crimes in the name of promoting national unity. Those pardoned include strongman Chun Doo-hwan, who received the death penalty at a district court over his 1979 coup, the bloody 1980 crackdowns of pro-democracy protests that killed about 200 people, and other crimes.
Even if Yoon is spared the death penalty or life imprisonment at the rebellion trial, he may still face other prison sentences in the multiple smaller trials he faces.
Some observers say Yoon is likely retaining a defiant attitude in the ongoing trials to maintain his support base in the belief that he cannot avoid a lengthy sentence but could be pardoned in the future.
On the night of Dec. 3, 2024, Yoon abruptly declared martial law in a televised speech, saying he would eliminate “anti-state forces” and protect “the constitutional democratic order.” Yoon sent troops and police officers to encircle the National Assembly, but many apparently didn’t aggressively cordon off the area, allowing enough lawmakers to get into an assembly hall to vote down Yoon’s decree.
No major violence occurred, but Yoon's decree caused the biggest political crisis in South Korea in decades and rattled its diplomacy and financial markets. For many, his decree, the first of its kind in more than 40 years in South Korea, brought back harrowing memories of past dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s, when military-backed leaders used martial law and emergency measures to deploy soldiers and tanks on the streets to suppress demonstrations.
After Yoon's ouster, his liberal rival Lee Jae Myung became president via a snap election last June. After taking office, Lee appointed three independent counsels to look into allegations involving Yoon, his wife and associates.
Yoon's other trials deal with charges like ordering drone flights over North Korea to deliberately inflame animosities to look for a pretext to declare martial law. Other charges accuse Yoon of manipulating the investigation into a marine’s drowning in 2023 and receiving free opinion surveys from an election broker in return for a political favor.
A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol shouts slogans outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol waits for a bus carrying former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs as police officers stand guard outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A picture of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is placed on a board as supporters gather outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
