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State Department Briefing: Bruce on Ukraine Ceasefire Proposal, Tren de Aragua Removals, and Houthi Strikes

March 17, 2025 · U.S. Department of State · 0:35:56

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What happened

Spokesperson Tammy Bruce led the State Department briefing on March 17, 2025, saying peace through strength is back under President Trump, according to the State Department. Bruce said Secretary Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz traveled to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to meet the Ukrainian delegation, and that Ukraine expressed readiness to accept the U.S. proposal for an immediate interim 30-day ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with the ball now in Russia’s court and further advances after Envoy Witkoff’s visit there, as she stated it. She said Rubio then traveled to the G7 in Canada, where partners expressed support for a swift and durable end to the conflict, as she stated it.

Bruce said the administration invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to initiate removal of hundreds of dangerous members of Tren de Aragua, which she described as a vicious, violent Foreign Terrorist Organization conducting irregular warfare and terrorizing Americans, and she expressed gratitude to President Bukele of El Salvador for his pivotal role in the transfer, quoting Rubio that Bukele is the strongest security leader in the region and a great friend of the United States, as she stated it.

Bruce said President Trump ordered decisive and powerful U.S. military deterrence operations against the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen, quoting Rubio’s message that attacks on U.S. vessels and global shipping must stop and those responsible will be held accountable, as she stated it. She also noted maximum-pressure sanctions on Iran’s oil minister and shadow fleet the prior week, as she stated it. The spokesperson is not on this site’s tracked-officials roster, so the page carries no official tags.

Why it matters

The briefing bundles three of the administration’s signature early moves — the Jeddah 30-day ceasefire proposal, the Alien Enemies Act removals to El Salvador, and the Yemen strikes — into a single official statement day, as Bruce stated them, making it a useful primary record of how the department presented all three at once.

Scoreboard watch

Bruce stated Ukraine was ready to accept an immediate interim 30-day ceasefire with the ball in Russia’s court, as she stated it on March 17, 2025 — checkable against Russia’s subsequent response and the ceasefire record.

Sources: U.S. Department of State, “Department of State Press Briefing - March 17, 2025”, 2025-03-17 (official upload, embedded above; published 2025-03-17). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.