US President Donald Trump explodes over ‘triple sabotage’ at UN: Escalator, telepromoter, sound issues
US President of the United States Donald Trump has accused the United Nations of a deliberate campaign to humiliate him, describing a sequence of three technical failures at the General Assembly as a “triple sabotage” and demanding an immediate investigation.
Mr Trump took to Truth Social and posted a long, exclamation-laced account of events, writing: “A REAL DISGRACE took place at the United Nations yesterday — Not one, not two, but three very sinister events!”
He went on to describe an escalator that “came to a screeching halt”, a teleprompter that “didn’t work”, and sound in the auditorium that “was completely off”, calling the incidents suspicious and saying, “The people that did it should be arrested!”.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Mr Trump said action would be taken and that he would send a copy of his message to the UN secretary-general and called dor security tapes to be preserved. He also said the Secret Service had been involved and accused UN staff of sabotage while insisting his live speech ultimately won “fantastic reviews.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said if this was intentional, someone needed to be fired “immediately”.
“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 on X.
It has since been reported by the BBC that the escalator stopped because a safety sensor was tripped, the UN says its teleprompters were functional, and White House staff operated the equipment associated with the president’s speech, all of which undercut Mr Trump’s charge of intentional sabotage.
For now, the public record shows both the spectacle of the glitches and a fight over what they signify: a technical fluke and possible operator error, according to UN accounts, versus a deliberate attempt at humiliation, according to the former president.
Investigators and officials on both sides say they are reviewing footage and equipment logs, which should settle the matter over time.
