The United Nations (UN) cast blame on President Trump and the media for a stalled escalator and an inoperable teleprompter on Tuesday, after the president denounced the international body for the technology mishaps ahead of his speech before the General Assembly.
A safety mechanism was triggered by a videographer on the moving stairway ahead of Trump’s ascent, according to the U.N.
“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,” a spokesperson said in a statement sent to reporters.
“As the videographer, who was traveling backwards up the escalator reached the top, the First Lady, followed by President Trump, each mounted the steps at the bottom. At that moment (9:50am), the escalator came to a stop,” they added, noting that the videographer may have “inadvertently” caused the safety feature to activate.
The conclusion came after an investigation per the organization. The probe also revealed that a White House staffer was operating the teleprompter for the president during the technical setback, according to a source who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
However, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted an article published Sunday alleging there were jokes floating about stopping the escalator prior to the president’s arrival to force him to walk for inconvenience.
“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,” she wrote in the post on social platform X.
In recent months, elevator and escalator operations have been paused at the U.N.’s New York and Geneva offices to save money in the midst of a “liquidity crisis” due in part to diminished funding from the Trump administration, the AP reported.
The president slammed the international body during his Tuesday address for causing “uncontrolled migration” and questioned the entire purpose of of the U.N. before world leaders.
“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,” Trump said.
“All I got from the United Nations was an escalator that, on the way up, stopped right in the middle,” he continued. “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.”
Laura Kelly contributed.
