President Donald Trump taunted the United Nations about a faulty escalator and broken teleprompter, but some of his allies suspect there was intentional sabotage.
Trump and first lady Melania Trump were on an escalator at the U.N. headquarters in New York City on Tuesday when it came to an abrupt stop. Subsequently, Trump’s teleprompter also malfunctioned during his address, leading him to make light of the mishaps.
‘There better be accountability.’
“These are the two things I got from the United Nations: a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter,” Trump said. “Thank you very much.”
Although the president trolled the general assembly in true Trump fashion, others in his inner circle were not as lighthearted about the equipment problems.
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Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
A report from the Sunday Times said that “UN staff members have joked that they may turn off the escalators and elevators” in anticipation of Trump’s appearance and “tell him they ran out of money.” This excerpt has led many to speculate that U.N. staff may have intentionally sabotaged the escalator, causing a serious security risk for the president.
“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,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X.
Leavitt later announced that the United States Secret Service launched an investigation to determine whether the malfunction was intentional.
“If we find that these were U.N. staffers who were purposefully trying to trip up — literally trip up — the president and the first lady of the United States, there better be accountability for those people, and I will personally see to it,” Leavitt said.
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Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
While some of Trump’s allies are convinced that the escalator was sabotaged, U.N. officials point to a more innocuous explanation. In response to the speculation, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the escalator stopped “after a built-in safety mechanism on the comb step was triggered at the top of the escalator.
“The videographer may have inadvertently triggered the safety function,” Dujarric said in a statement.
“The safety mechanism is designed to prevent people or objects accidentally being caught and stuck in or pulled into the gearing.”
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United nations, Melania trump, Donald trump, Un, Karoline leavitt, Escalator, Teleprompter, Un speech, Stephane dujarric, Politics
