Donald Trump has accused the United Nations of “triple sabotage” after a series of embarrassing mishaps marred his appearance before world leaders in New York.
In a lengthy statement on Wednesday, the US president said he and the first lady narrowly avoided a “disaster” when the escalator carrying them to the UN’s main speaking floor “came to a screeching halt”.
Trump suggested the incident was deliberate, citing a report in the London Times claiming UN staff had joked about switching off the machine.
“This was absolutely sabotage,” Trump wrote, insisting security tapes be preserved. “It’s amazing that Melania and I didn’t fall forward onto the sharp edges of these steel steps.”
But the UN offered a more prosaic explanation. A spokesperson for secretary general António Guterres said a videographer travelling backwards up the escalator to film Trump may have inadvertently triggered a built-in safety mechanism at the top of the steps.
“At that moment, the escalator came to a stop,” said Stéphane Dujarric, adding that the machine’s control unit confirmed the safety function had been engaged.
The White House has not commented on the UN’s account. However, press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X that if anyone had deliberately stopped the escalator, they “need to be fired and investigated immediately”.
Trump’s troubles did not end there. As he began his address to the general assembly, his teleprompter went dark, forcing him to improvise for nearly 15 minutes.
“Whoever’s operating this teleprompter is in big trouble,” he quipped. A UN official later clarified that the White House had been operating the device itself, bringing its own laptops to control the pace of delivery.
Finally, Trump claimed that the auditorium’s sound cut out during his speech, leaving leaders unable to hear unless they were listening through interpreters’ earpieces. “This wasn’t a coincidence,” he said. “This was triple sabotage.”
UN officials declined to address the sound issue directly but dismissed suggestions of a conspiracy.
The president, however, said he would write to Guterres demanding an investigation. “No wonder the United Nations hasn’t been able to do the job they were put in existence to do,” he concluded.
