The Latest on President Donald Trump's cancellation of the Philadelphia Eagles' visit to the White House (all times local):

5:30 p.m.

Philadelphia Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins says NFL players who have been speaking out politically are fighting for racial and social equality Quenton Nelson Colts Jersey , not disparaging the national anthem.

Jenkins issued a lengthy statement on Twitter on Tuesday after the White House disinvited the Eagles from an event originally intended to honor the Super Bowl champions. President Donald Trump has framed the decision around the national anthem and his repeated arguments that NFL players should be required to stand on the field when the song is played before games.

Jenkins says the White House made a decision "to lie, and paint the picture that these players are anti-America, anti-flag and anti-military."

He says he will "continue to fight for impacted citizens and give a voice to those who never had one."

3:20 p.m.

President Donald Trump has held a "patriotism" event at the White House in lieu of a Super Bowl celebration for the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles that he canceled.

The president said Tuesday on the South Lawn that it's time to "explain why young Americans stand for our national anthem."

Trump sang along to "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "God Bless America" during a brief ceremony that included the U.S. Marine Band and the U.S. Army chorus.

Trump did not mention the Eagles. He accused players of abandoning their fans because many had said they wouldn't show up. Late Monday, he canceled the event because of the anticipated low turnout.

The president says that the nation needs to remember the "fallen heroes" and that the country stands together "for freedom, we stand together for patriotism."

2:55 p.m.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders says it was the Philadelphia Eagles, not President Donald Trump, "who changed their commitment at the last minute" to a White House Super Bowl celebration. Trump had been prepared to host the Eagles Tuesday, but announced Monday he was canceling the event.

Earlier, the White House said that the team notified the White House last week that 81 people, including players, coaches and managers would be attending. But late Friday, the team tried to reschedule, proposing a time when Trump would be overseas.

In the end, Sanders says the Eagles offered to send "only a tiny handful of representatives" to the event, "while making clear that the great majority of players would not attend."

She says, "if this wasn't a political stunt by the Eagles franchise, then they wouldn't have planned to attend the event and then backed out at the last minute."

12:10 p.m.

The White House is blaming the Philadelphia Eagles for President Donald Trump's decision to cancel a planned White House event celebrating the team's Super Bowl championship.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the team last Thursday notified the White House that 81 individuals, including players, coaches and managers would be attending.

However, the team got back in touch with the White House late Friday and tried to reschedule Authentic Customized Buccaneers Jerseys , proposing a time when Trump would be overseas.

In the end, she says the Eagles offered to send "only a tiny handful of representatives" to the event, "while making clear that the great majority of players would not attend."

She says, "In other words, the vast majority of the Eagles team decided to abandon their fans," prompting Trump to cancel.

11:50 a.m.

Fox News is apologizing for airing footage that wrongly suggested Philadelphia Eagles players knelt during the national anthem to protest racial injustice.

Christopher Wallace, executive producer of "Fox News @ Night," says in a statement that during the show's report about President Donald Trump canceling the Eagles' visit on Tuesday to the White House to celebrate the team's Super Bowl win, the show displayed "unrelated footage of players kneeling in prayer."

He says, "To clarify, no members of the team knelt in protest during the national anthem throughout regular or post-season last year," adding: "We apologize for the error."

9:35 a.m.

The NFL Players Association says President Donald Trump's decision to scrap a White House visit for the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles led to the cancellation of several smaller community events in the Washington area the Eagles players were to lead.

The players union said in a statement Tuesday that it is disappointed by the decision and that NFL players "love their country, support our troops, give back to their communities and strive to make America a better place."

The Eagles plan to resume organized team activities in Philadelphia, though the early practice in preparation for the season is not expected to be open to reporters.

8:55 a.m.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney is criticizing President Donald Trump for canceling the White House celebration of the Eagles' Super Bowl win and for panning players who refuse to stand for the National Anthem.

Kenney, a Democrat, said of Trump on Tuesday morning on CNN: "When he had the opportunity to serve his country for real, his father got him out of it, and I think it's really disingenuous for him to talk about patriotism in any way shape or form."

The mayor was referring to deferments Trump obtained during the Vietnam War for his college education and for bone spurs in his heels.

Kenney said Eagles fans would take the president's withdrawing the invitation in stride.

"Eagles fans understand that our players are individuals who can stand up for themselves and stand up for what they believe in and that's what this country's about," Kenney said.

7:25 a.m.

President Donald Trump says he'll be honoring America at the White House on Tuesday after he canceled a scheduled event with Super Bowl champion Philade

An NFL team in London? Count on it.

An NBA franchise in Mexico City? Yep James Washington Game Jersey , that's coming too.

What was once a pipe dream 鈥?major-league teams based in cities outside the United States and Canada 鈥?is now just a matter of time. The aforementioned cities are the ones most likely to break through first, but others will surely follow when everyone sees how much potential revenue is there for the taking.

"The market is saturated in the U.S.," said Gil Fried, a professor and chair of sports management at the University of New Haven. "They need to find new markets."

The NFL has been trying for years to make inroads in Europe 鈥?especially London 鈥?and those efforts were turned up to full blast by revelations that Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan is attempting to buy Wembley Stadium, a 90,000-seat, state-of-the-art venue known the world over.

Khan brushed off the obvious speculation that this is the first step toward moving the Jaguars to London 鈥?where they already have been playing "home" games since 2013 鈥?but didn't exactly provide a resounding vote of confidence for Jacksonville, one of the smallest markets in the NFL.

"The first thing you want with certainty is you want a venue," he said. "And this gives us a stadium solution, for us or anyone else."

In other words, better get used to calling his team the London Jaguars.

"Shad Khan's purchase of Wembley Stadium portends that a substantive NFL presence in London, and ultimately a franchise, is inevitable," said Vince Benigni, a professor of sports communication at the College of Charleston.

The NBA, which last expanded in 2004, is looking to get the jump on Mexico City, a sprawling metropolis of more than 20 million people that opened an NBA-ready arena in 2012.

That facility hosted a pair of NBA regular-season games each of the last two seasons , drawing an average of more than 20,000 fans.

"You can feel it Denard Span Seattle Mariners Jersey , you can smell it, you can breathe it in the streets." said Gilberto Hern谩ndez, president of the Mexican Basketball Federation. "They're just craving basketball."

Of course, there are a number of challenges that must be addressed before international expansion becomes a reality 鈥?especially so for Mexico City, which is 7,350 feet above sea level (more than 2,000 feet higher than Denver), is plagued by crime and economic-disparity issues, and might have trouble signing top players who are reluctant to step outside their cultural comfort zone.

But the appeal is enormous.

"It's the largest city in the Western Hemisphere," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. "It's part of a 130 million-person country. There's a very strong, passionate Mexican-American fan base in the United States. This is also a potential gateway for all of Latin America."

The NHL first floated the prospect of a European division in the late 1960s. Detroit Red Wings owner Bruce Norris was so fixated on the idea that he launched his own team, the London Lions, who played a 72-game schedule against top European teams in 1973-74. Unfortunately, the Lions never had a league of their own, so the team quietly disbanded after that single season, leaving behind nothing more than a cool logo .

Over the last two decades, the NHL has scheduled regular-season contests in Europe and Japan, including two games in Stockholm this past November. The Asian market also remains a top priority, especially heading into the 2022 Olympics in Beijing 鈥?though the league sent mixed signals by refusing to send its players to this year's Winter Games in South Korea.

For the NHL and the NBA, the enormous travel times between North America and either Europe or Asia remain the biggest obstacle to adding teams in those markets. Unless some sort of supersonic transportation becomes available Derrius Guice Redskins Jersey , it would simply be too difficult to incorporate such faraway cities as London and Tokyo into an 82-game schedule, which requires teams to play games all through the week and sometimes on back-to-back days.

Also working against European expansion: the lack on U.S.-quality arenas (even the most modern facilities generally lack the size and amenities to generate as much revenue as their American counterparts) and established basketball and hockey leagues in many countries would surely object to the NBA or NHL coming in to steal their limelight.

For the NFL, the challenges aren't nearly so daunting, and the potential rewards could be even greater for a league that has faced declining TV ratings and lots of bad publicity about the devastating physical toll on its players.

There are no major pro football leagues in Europe. Teams play only once a week, generally on Sunday, and the entire regular-season schedule is just 16 games. A team in London would have to make the cross-Atlantic trek no more than eight times a year, and the demands could be lessened by scheduling back-to-back road games, halving the number of long-range roundtrips.

A London team could even maintain its base of operations in the U.S., essentially playing all its games on the road but perhaps making it easier to sign players in free agency and cope with legal issues and currency fluctuations.

Travel would not be a concern for a Mexican team. The NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball have all played regular-season games south of the border 鈥?next weekend, in fact, the Los Angeles Dodgers will meet the San Diego Padres in a three-game series at Monterrey .

MLB seems the most logical candidate to launch a Mexican team, given baseball's popularity and the large number of Latin American players in the majors, but the NBA is leading the way. Silver wants to put a G League development team in Mexico City, testing the waters for a possible NBA franchise.

"As we look down the road, frankly, to see whether there can be an opportunity to even dream about an NBA franchise here in Mexico City, we believe it makes sense as.