New York: US President Donald Trump has demanded an investigation into three “sinister events” at the UN headquarters, including an escalator breaking down while he and First Lady Melania Trump were on it, describing them as “triple sabotage”.
In a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, he also said the UN should be “ashamed” of itself.
“A REAL DISGRACE took place at the United Nations yesterday — Not one, not two, but three very sinister events!” Trump said.
Escalator incident
The first incident was when the escalator going up to the main speaking floor came to a “screeching halt” shortly after the First Lady and Trumps stepped onto it.
“It stopped on a dime. It’s amazing that Melania and I didn’t fall forward onto the sharp edges of these steel steps, face first. It was only that we were each holding the handrail tightly or, it would have been a disaster. This was absolutely sabotage,” Trump said adding that those behind the incident should be arrested.
Then, as Trump came on the UNGA podium to deliver his address to the General Debate of the 80th UN General Assembly session, the teleprompter broke.
Teleprompter malfunction
“Then, as I stood before a television crowd of millions of people all over the world, and important leaders in the Hall, my teleprompter didn’t work. It was stone cold dark. I immediately thought to myself, ‘Wow, first the escalator event, and now a bad teleprompter. What kind of a place is this?'” he said.
Trump proceeded to deliver his 57-minute speech without a teleprompter, which started working about 15 minutes later.
“The good news is the speech has gotten fantastic reviews. Maybe they appreciated the fact that very few people could have done what I did,” he said.
Sound completely off in UNGA during speech: Trump
Thirdly, Trump said that he was told, after he finished delivering his speech, that the sound was completely off in the UN General Assembly hall and the world leaders couldn’t hear a thing unless they used the interpreters’ earpieces.
“The first person I saw at the conclusion of the speech was Melania, who was sitting right up front. I said, “How did I do?” And she said, “I couldn’t hear a word you said.”
Trump said these incidents were not a coincidence but a “triple sabotage at the UN” and the organisation ought to be “ashamed” of itself.
“I’m sending a copy of this letter to the Secretary General, and I demand an immediate investigation. No wonder the United Nations hasn’t been able to do the job that they were put in existence to do. All security tapes at the escalator should be saved, especially the emergency stop button. The Secret Service is involved.”
Trump also referred to a report in The London Times that said UN workers had “joked” about turning off an escalator.
In the incident that was captured live on camera and watched by millions around the world, including the visiting world leaders at the UN, the escalator near the Delegate’s entrance in the UN headquarters came to an abrupt halt soon after Trump and the First Lady stepped onto it as they made their way to the UN General Assembly hall Tuesday morning for the US President’s address to world leaders at the General Debate.
The abrupt halt jolted the couple, who waited momentarily at the escalator and forced Melania Trump to walk up the stalled escalator, with the President following closely behind her.
Responding to questions about the escalator incident, Stephane Dujarric, Spokesperson for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said that Trump, accompanied by the First Lady and delegation, arrived at the UNHQ building and entered through the Delegate’s entrance.
After passing through the security gates, Trump and the First Lady approached the escalator. In an effort to document their arrival, a videographer from the US delegation stepped on to the escalator ahead of the President and First Lady, he said.
As the videographer, who was travelling backwards up the escalator reached the top, the First Lady, followed by President Trump, each mounted the steps at the bottom. At that moment, the escalator came to a stop, he said.
“Our technician, who was at the location, reset the escalator as soon as the delegation had climbed up to the second floor. A subsequent investigation, including a readout of the machine’s central processing unit, indicated that the escalator had stopped after a built-in safety mechanism on the comb step was triggered at the top of the escalator.
“The safety mechanism is designed to prevent people or objects accidentally being caught and stuck in or pulled into the gearing. The videographer may have inadvertently triggered the safety function described above,” Dujarric said.
As Trump reached the top of the escalator, he was greeted by UN Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed. “The escalator just broke,” Trump told Mohammed, who responded, “Oh my goodness.”
Ahead of Trump’s address from the UNGA podium, the teleprompter also broke, leading the US President to begin his remarks by saying, “I don’t mind making this speech without a teleprompter because the teleprompter is not working.”
World leaders break into laughter
The world leaders gathered in the UN General Assembly hall broke into laughter at Trump’s comment.
“I feel very happy to be up here with you nevertheless, and that way you speak more from the heart. I can only say that whoever is operating this teleprompter is in big trouble,” Trump said amid laughs from the attendees.
“All I got from the United Nations was an escalator that on the way up, stopped right in the middle. If the First Lady wasn’t in great shape, she would have fallen, but she’s in great shape. We’re both in good shape. We both stood,” Trump had said amid laughter from the world leaders gathered in the UNGA hall.
“And then a teleprompter that didn’t work. These are the two things I got from the United Nations – a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter. Thank you very much,” Trump said.
Trump also spoke about the teleprompter and escalator incident during a bilateral meeting with Guterres.
“Thank you very much. It’s always an honour to be here. We’ve done this before, and this was a little more exciting because of the escalator and the teleprompter. These things happen,” Trump said in his bilateral meeting with Guterres on Tuesday.
White House responds
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X that “if someone at the UN intentionally stopped the escalator as the President and First Lady were stepping on, they need to be fired and investigated immediately”.
Leavitt posted a screenshot of an article from The Times that said, “To mark Trump’s arrival, UN staff members have joked that they may turn off the escalators and elevators and simply tell him they ran out of money, so he has to walk up the stairs.”
