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President Trump on Wednesday called on the United Nations to investigate what he deemed was “triple sabotage” after he dealt with an escalator mishap, a teleprompter glitch and audio issues during his trip to the U.N. General Assembly meeting.
“A REAL DISGRACE took place at the United Nations yesterday Not one, not two, but three very sinister events!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
He cited an incident where an escalator abruptly stopped shortly after he and first lady Melania Trump had stepped on, forcing them to walk the rest of the way up.
“It’s amazing that Melania and I didn’t fall forward onto the sharp edges of these steel steps, face first,” Trump posted. “It was only that we were each holding the handrail tightly or, it would have been a disaster.”
He also highlighted a teleprompter malfunction at the start of his speech, which forced him to read off of printed remarks until the teleprompter began working roughly 15 minutes into his hourlong address.
And he said he discovered the sound in the room was “completely off.”
“This wasn’t a coincidence, this was triple sabotage at the UN. They ought to be ashamed of themselves,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “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,” he added. “All security tapes at the escalator should be saved, especially the emergency stop button. The Secret Service is involved.”
Trump mentioned both the escalator malfunction and the teleprompter issues right at the start of his speech as he criticized the United Nations for failing to live up to its potential.
While the White House has suggested others were to blame, the United Nations said in a statement that members of Trump’s own team were at fault.
Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the U.N. secretary-general, said in a statement that a videographer from Trump’s delegation “may have inadvertently triggered the safety function” on the escalator, causing it to stop abruptly.
“Our technician, who was at the location, reset the escalator as soon as the delegation had climbed up to the second floor,” Dujarric said.
The U.N. also determined that a White House staffer was operating the teleprompter for the president when it ran into technical problems, according to a source who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
Trump and others in the White House have cited a Times of London report published earlier in the week that said some U.N. staffers joked about shutting off an escalator to force Trump to walk up the steps.