The White House has called for an investigation after an escalator abruptly stopped as former US President Donald Trump and the First Lady entered the United Nations, following teleprompter issues during his address at the UN General Assembly.
On Tuesday, the White House demanded an inquiry into whether the escalator was intentionally stopped to humiliate President Trump. “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,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X.
According to AFP, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres, explained that the escalator mishap occurred because someone in front of Trump accidentally triggered a safety mechanism, causing it to shut down.
Leavitt further referenced a report from The Times of London published on Sunday, claiming that some UN staff members had joked about turning off the escalators and telling the President that they had “run out of money,” amid sweeping US funding cuts.
During his address at the UN General Assembly in New York, Trump also experienced technical difficulties with the teleprompter. Opening his speech, he remarked, “I don’t mind making this speech without a teleprompter, because the teleprompter is not working.” Later, with a grin, he added, “I can only say that whoever is operating this teleprompter is in big trouble.”
Addressing the escalator incident, President Trump stated, “I ended seven wars, dealt with the leaders of each and every one of these countries, and never even received a phone call from the United Nations. 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.”
He continued, “These are the two things I got from the United Nations, a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter. Thank you very much.”
After the speech, Trump took to Truth Social to reflect on his UN appearance, mentioning the teleprompter and escalator issues. “It was a great honor to speak before the United Nations. I believe the speech was very well received. It focused very much on energy and migration/immigration. I have been talking about this for a long period of time and this Forum was the absolute best from the standpoint of making these two important statements. I hope everybody gets to watch it!” he wrote.
Pointing out that the teleprompter and escalator mishaps made the speech “more interesting,” Trump also took a subtle jab at the UN.
Regarding the teleprompter glitch, Stéphane Dujarric stated, “We have no comment since the teleprompter for the US president is operated by the White House.”
https://www.news18.com/world/white-house-calls-for-probe-into-malfunctions-faced-by-trump-at-un-ws-l-9592576.html
