The United Nations blamed President Donald Trump’s team for the escalator and teleprompter malfunctions he experienced on Tuesday, following his scathing criticism of the international organization for the broken technology before his speech to the General Assembly.
“In an effort to document their arrival, a videographer from the U.S. delegation stepped on to the escalator ahead of the President and First Lady,” a U.N. spokesperson said in a statement obtained by The Hill.
“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 (9:50 a.m.), the escalator came to a stop,” they added, speculating that the videographer may have “inadvertently” triggered a safety mechanism.
The organization said it reached the conclusion after an investigation was conducted. The U.N.’s probe also found that a White House staffer was operating the teleprompter for Trump when the technical mishap occurred, according to an Associated Press source who was granted anonymity by the outlet.
But a White House official told Newsmax that the president’s team had been promised time to set up the teleprompter ahead of Trump’s speech and was ultimately barred by U.N. staff from doing so. As a result, White House staff were trying to set up the teleprompter as the president was speaking.
In a blistering rebuke to his international counterparts, Trump questioned the purpose of the U.N. and told world leaders their “countries are going to hell” due to “uncontrolled migration.”
“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.”
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt took to X to post a screenshot of an article that was published Sunday, alleging that U.N. staffers had joked about stopping the escalators and elevators as an inconvenience prior to Trump’s arrival to force him to walk.
“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 Tuesday.
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