JUST IN: The United Nations blames the Trump team for the nonworking escalator, teleprompter – The Hill
In a dramatic turn of events at the United Nations’ General Assembly, a storm of controversy has erupted over technical malfunctions that dogged former President Donald Trump’s appearance. On Tuesday, the U.N. publicly assigned responsibility to Trump’s own team for a stalled escalator and a failed teleprompter — countering Trump’s accusations that the institution sabotaged his schedule.
As Trump approached the podium, his entry was delayed when the escalator beneath him and First Lady Melania abruptly stopped mid-journey. Later, during his speech, the teleprompter malfunctioned, leaving him to rely partly on memory and impromptu remarks. Trump didn’t hold back, accusing U.N. officials of orchestrating the disruptions and calling for a formal investigation and possible arrests.
The U.N. response came swiftly. Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric explained that the escalator’s built-in safety mechanism had been triggered when a videographer from Trump’s delegation walked backward on the moving stairway — a likely accident, he suggested, rather than sabotage. The mechanism, designed to prevent entrapment, stopped the escalator’s motor instantly.
As for the teleprompter, U.N. officials made clear that the device was under the control of the White House, not the U.N. staff, defending themselves against responsibility for that malfunction.
Trump took to his social media platform to frame the events as a triple act of sabotage — “not one, not two, but three very sinister events!” he wrote, pointing to the escalator stoppage, teleprompter failure, and audio glitches. He asked that all footage be preserved and demanded accountability from those he claimed orchestrated the disruption.
The White House responded in kind, vowing to investigate the incidents and insisting that foul play should be ruled out only after a full inquiry. Some aides suggested the events were too convenient to ignore, fueling speculation about a possible conspiracy. Meanwhile, critics argued Trump was using the malfunctions to divert attention from criticism of his U.N. speech’s content.
The episode has reignited a long-standing debate over the U.N.’s budget woes. In recent months, several escalators and elevators across U.N. facilities have intermittently shut down as part of austerity measures linked to delayed U.S. funding. Observers suggested the infrastructure stress may have pushed hidden mechanical vulnerabilities closer to a breaking point.
Analysts and diplomats remain divided. Some interpret the U.N.’s quick public pushback as an effort to preserve institutional credibility in the face of escalating political attacks. Others see the incident as a clash of narratives: Trump’s portrayal of a flawed, biased global body versus the U.N.’s defense of its procedural integrity.
Meanwhile, former officials and security experts weighed in cautiously. They noted that safety systems on escalators exist precisely to prevent injury from unpredictable human movement. As for the teleprompter — it’s often handled by each speaker’s staff, raising questions about inter-agency coordination rather than centralized sabotage.
What remains uncertain is whether the escalator stoppage was truly accidental or whether political theater played a role. Was the videographer’s backward motion innocuous, or was it a calculated trigger? Did pre-existing funding cuts to infrastructure exacerbate a latent mechanical fault? And above all, will there be a transparent investigation into the matter, or will the dispute fade as yet another headline skirmish?
One thing is clear: after Trump’s fiery speech and the ensuing controversy, the spotlight has shifted not just onto his policies at the U.N., but onto the very cooperation and credibility of the global institution itself. The world now watches to see whether this will be remembered as a technical glitch, a political ploy — or something far more deliberate.
