State Department Briefing, March 17, 2025: Bruce on Ukraine's Acceptance of a 30-Day Ceasefire Proposal and Alien Enemies Act Removals

Name: "State Department Briefing, March 17, 2025: Bruce on Ukraine's Acceptance of a 30-Day Ceasefire Proposal and Alien Enemies Act Removals"
Uploaded: 2025-03-17
Duration: 1 h 40 min 32 s
Description: "Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Ukraine accepted a U.S. proposal for an immediate interim 30-day ceasefire after talks in Saudi Arabia, that the administration enacted the Alien Enemies Act to remove hundreds of members of a violent foreign terrorist organization, and that the department will consider revoking visas of Hamas supporters, according to the briefing."

March 17, 2025 · U.S. Department of State · 1:40:32

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

Spokesperson Tammy Bruce opened her March 17, 2025 briefing by saying that under President Trump, strength is back, and pointing to the U.S. delegation’s travel to Saudi Arabia to meet the Ukrainian delegation, after which Ukraine accepted readiness to accept the U.S. proposal to enact an immediate interim 30-day ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine conflict — the ball is now in Russia’s court, according to Bruce. She said Secretary Rubio then traveled to Canada, where partners expressed support for a swift and durable end to the conflict, according to the briefing (the transcript for this briefing is a rough realtime caption render and is paraphrased here).

Bruce said the administration enacted the Alien Enemies Act to remove hundreds of members of a violent foreign terrorist organization that had been threatening the nation and terrorizing Americans, and expressed gratitude to El Salvador for playing a pivotal role in the transfer — noting, as Rubio had said, that President Bukele showed himself the strongest security leader in the region and a great friend of the United States, according to Bruce.

Bruce said President Trump ordered decisive action against the Iranian-backed terrorists in Yemen, quoting Rubio that the attacks on U.S. vessels must stop and those responsible will be held accountable, and that the department announced sanctions aimed at the illicit crude oil trade to stop revenue flowing to the Iranian regime, according to Bruce. She also said the department will consider revoking the visas of those who have supported Hamas and engaged in anti-Semitic harassment, intimidation, vandalism, and violence on American college campuses, quoting Rubio’s March 6 statement that supporters of designated terrorist organizations threaten U.S. security, according to the briefing. The briefing then took press questions, including on South Africa’s ambassador being declared persona non grata, according to the exchanges.

Why it matters

The March 17 briefing is an early-term catalogue of the administration’s stated moves in one sitting — a ceasefire proposal awaiting Russia, Alien Enemies Act removals via El Salvador, Yemen strikes, Iran oil sanctions, and a visa-revocation policy — as the department presented them.

Sources: U.S. Department of State, “Department of State Press Briefing - March 17, 2025 - 2:00PM”, 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.