Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Tuesday, March 18, 2025. I’m Bill Thomas, we have some pressing stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s happening both nationally and around the world.
President Donald Trump prepares for a critical discussion regarding a cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine; our nation’s top diplomat weighs in as the U.S. military continues to strike unexpected targets in the Middle East; and the president makes a stunning declaration concerning a number of pardons issued by his predecessor in the White House.
Also, one Cabinet member shares his cogent thoughts about the Trump administration’s efforts to stave off a looming financial disaster, and at our southern border, new efforts are underway to ensure the security of our nation.
Trump and Putin to Discuss Cease-Fire
Trump says that during his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin today, his goal is to bring about an end to the war, that a large amount of work has recently been done toward that end, and that he foresees a “very good chance” of reaching a cease-fire deal with Russia.He went on to say that the United States has already talked about “dividing up certain assets” with Ukraine and Russia, and that today’s discussions will involve both land and power plants.
For his part, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff says that he recently held a positive and “solution-based” meeting with Putin. He also says that the United States has “narrowed the differences” between the two sides, and that all parties are now sitting at the same table.
To refresh your memory, Ukraine recently agreed to enter into a 30-day cease-fire with Russia. Meanwhile, Putin has expressed support for the cease-fire in principle, but says that a number of remaining concerns must first be resolved before Russia puts a stop to its invasion.
One Russian official says that as part of any agreement, Moscow will seek “ironclad” guarantees that Ukraine will remain neutral and that NATO will not accept Ukraine’s membership into the security alliance.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that any peace deal must include security guarantees to ensure Ukraine can defend itself against any potential future Russian attacks.
Meanwhile, as the cease-fire talks continue, Russian attacks against Ukraine have intensified. Zelenskyy says that in the past week alone, Russia has fired more than 1,300 guided aerial bombs, launched over 10 missiles, and directed more than 1,000 drone attacks against Ukrainian targets.
US Airstrikes Target Houthis; Trump Warns Iran
The United States is carrying out renewed airstrikes on the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio says they’re not going to let up until the region’s international shipping lanes are safe for commercial vessels.Rubio says that the U.S. government will not allow the Houthis to control which ships can go through the passage and which ones can’t. He says that the U.S. military action will continue until the terrorists “no longer have the capability” to do that any longer.
He went on to point out that in the past 18 months, the Houthis have directly targeted the U.S. Navy 174 times, while attacking commercial vessels 145 times. He says those attacks involved sophisticated anti-ship weaponry.
Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says that the U.S. military campaign against the Houthis will end the minute they say they’ll stop shooting at our ships and drones, but until then, it will be “unrelenting.” He also says that Iran has been enabling the Houthis for far too long, and that it’s time for them to “back off.”
According to the Houthi-run health ministry in Yemen, so far, the U.S. strikes have killed at least 53 people, including five women and two children, and wounded almost 100 others.
For their part, the leader of the Houthis says they’ll confront what they’re calling an “escalation” against them with additional military actions of their own, and he says that they plan to continue targeting American ships in the region.
Trump Says Biden’s Pardons Are Void Because They Were Done With Autopen
The president says that a number of pardons issued by his predecessor are no longer in effect due to evidence suggesting they were signed with an autopen, which is a device that can sign documents using preloaded signatures.Trump says those pardons are now considered “void, vacant, and of no further force.” He also says that they include all of the pardons issued for former members of the U.S. House of Representatives committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.
He went on to say that moving forward, those former committee members should “fully understand that they are subject to investigation at the highest level.”
The president made his statements following a recent analysis made by a group called The Heritage Foundation, which studied a number of pardons signed by Biden in the past to conclude that some appear to have been completed with an autopen.
Trump says that ultimately, it’s going to be up to the court system to decide the matter.
So far, no lawsuits appear to have yet been filed against Trump’s declaration. However, it should be noted that in the recent past, the courts have ruled that constitutionally, presidents can issue pardons even if they’re not in writing.
Treasury Secretary: White House Trying to Stave Off Financial Crisis
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says that a number of policies that are being initiated by the Trump administration are designed to head off a potential financial crisis, which is years in the making.He says that any possible economic problems that might occur would be the result of major government spending over the past several years, and that right now, we’re in a transition period.
He also says that while there’s no reason for a recession to occur, there are “no guarantees” that one won’t happen, and that the Trump administration is trying to prevent an even more serious crisis from taking place.
Bessent went on to say that if we continued the way we were heading, he guarantees we would have faced a significant financial crisis.
He says that our previous spending levels and large government deficits were unsustainable. He points out that the Trump administration is now bringing down spending in a responsible way and setting things on a more sustainable path.
By the way, the Treasury secretary says that what’s going on right now in our nation’s financial markets are simply healthy corrections. He says that in the long run, if a number of good policies are put in place regarding taxes, deregulation, and energy security, the markets will continue to perform well.
7-Mile Border Wall Expansion Begins in Arizona
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says that construction of an additional seven miles of the southern border wall in Arizona is now underway.By the way, Arizona shares a nearly 370-mile border with Mexico, and Noem pointed out that the new construction is beginning at the same spot where previous efforts were halted.
So you know, the first Trump administration built more than 450 miles of new and replacement wall along the southern border; however, after President Joe Biden took office in 2021, he called off construction of the wall altogether.
When Trump ran for a second term, he pledged to finish building the wall that he began as part of his larger campaign to crack down on illegal immigration, and during his first day back in office, he signed an executive order to complete a permanent physical barrier at the border.
For his part, Vice President JD Vance says that the president’s goal is to finish the entire wall separating the United States and Mexico by the end of their term.
Meanwhile, U.S. Customs and Border Protection recently awarded their first border wall contract during Trump’s second term. It says the contract has just been granted to build seven miles of new border wall in Hidalgo County, Texas–an area known to have a large number of illegal entries as well as a great deal of drug smuggling.
It says completing this portion of the wall will support the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to stop illegal border crossings and combat the drug and human trafficking activities of the cartels.
And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re going to call it a wrap for the Tuesday edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.
Don’t forget the News Brief Motto: We’re portable, affordable, and we’re always on-demand.
Finally, as we do each day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote, and this one comes to us from William Faulkner, who said: “A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station ...”
Faulkner never graduated from high school or earned a college degree, yet he won the Nobel Prize for Literature, two Pulitzer prizes, and the National Book Award, twice.
For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.
The Epoch Times News Brief program is written each day by David Ross.
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Enjoy the remainder of your day, and we’ll see you right back here next time for another edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.
For now, it’s imperative that we all continue to watch out for one another, and have an absolutely superb day today. Bye for now.
