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Department of State Press Briefing, March 19, 2025: Bruce Reads the Rubio-Waltz Statement

March 19, 2025 · U.S. Department of State · 0:52:01

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

What happened

Department of State Spokesperson Tammy Bruce led the department’s press briefing on March 19, 2025 — her third time in the briefing room, as she noted it — according to the Department of State broadcast. Bruce told reporters, as she stated it, that she would read a statement that had been released from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz for those watching from home and around the world, alongside her own announcement. She prefaced the briefing by thanking, as she stated it, the department staff whose analysis, research, and design work moves forward the agenda and policy of the Trump Administration and the Secretary of State.

In the question period, asked about U.S. plans to restore a Gaza ceasefire and how much political capital the administration would invest, Bruce said, as she stated it, that she would not discuss negotiations or emerging plans, but that President Trump does not want just a peaceful day or a peaceful week — nor Secretary Rubio, as she stated it, flying around to summits for a peaceful fortnight — and that the commitment is to be done with the situation. The briefing ranged, as the broadcast records, across regional and consular questions, and Bruce closed one exchange by saying, as she stated it, that the department condemns any instances of violence or intolerance directed toward members of minority communities in any country.

Why it matters

The briefing is an early record of the new department’s voice — a joint Rubio-Waltz statement carried into the room by the new spokesperson, and the administration’s stated refusal to settle for a short Gaza pause.

Sources: U.S. Department of State, “Department of State Press Briefing - March 19, 2025”, 2025-03-19 (official upload, embedded above; published 2025-03-19). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.