A ‘faulty’ escalator suddenly became America’s biggest issue when Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, had to climb up the stairs. On September 23, as the POTUS arrived at the UN General Assembly in New York, surrounded by his security team and paparazzi, something unexpected happened. As soon as Melania and Donald Trump stepped onto the escalator, it stopped functioning. The couple looked a bit confused and furious before finally deciding to climb their way up.
Trump, of course, wasn’t happy. He ridiculed the UN for the malfunction while the world was watching. The 79-year-old said during his speech, “All I got from the United Nations was an escalator that on the way up stopped right in the middle.”
“If the first lady wasn’t in great shape, she would’ve fallen. But she’s in great shape. We’re both in good shape,” he boasted, while subtly brushing off rumors of his declining health. It’s probably because he could sense the media scrutiny and social media trolling from a mile away after clips of him having to climb up the stairs would surface.
Climate change and world peace weren’t the highlights of the gathering anymore. Trump claimed that had he won a bid to renovate the New York building several decades ago, these issues wouldn’t exist. And then, a teleprompter glitch also added to his agitation. Trump, who claims to have stopped seven wars and enforced world peace, suggested that someone was going to be in “big trouble” over the technical mishaps.
Surprisingly, the controversy didn’t end with Trump’s UN speech. It was dragged to the White House’s doorstep and turned into the ultimate blame game that even the smartest of political pundits couldn’t have predicted.
Shortly after the entire chaos unfolded, White House Press Secretary took to social media and demanded an “investigation” into the matter. Without any proof at hand, she pushed the conspiracy theory that someone at the UN might have intentionally sabotaged the escalator.
“If someone at the U.N. intentionally stopped the escalator as the President and First Lady were stepping on, they need to be fired and investigated immediately,” Leavitt wrote on X.
The UN, however, turned the blame back at the White House. Shortly after Leavitt’s post, Stephane Dujarric, the U.N. spokesman, came forward and suggested that it just might be the fault of Trump’s team.
“The safety mechanism is designed to prevent people or objects accidentally being caught and stuck in or pulled into the gearing,” Dujarric said, according to Associated Press.
The spokesperson noted that the videographer from the U.S. delegation who ran ahead of Trump “inadvertently triggered the safety function,” which caused the escalator to suddenly halt.
Moreover, the escalator issue goes beyond this one-off incident. AP report mentions that in the last few months, UN offices in New York and Geneva “have intermittently turned off elevators and escalators as part of steps to save money because of a “liquidity crisis” at the world body.” The report claims that it’s a part of cost-cutting measures due to the delay in funding from the US under the Trump administration.
Coming to the teleprompter issue, the White House didn’t demand an investigation, and therefore, the UN also avoided commenting on it. But an UN official, who chooses to remain anonymous, has claimed that the White House was operating the teleprompter for the president.
The day has ended, but the controversy hasn’t. After the statement from the UN, Donald Trump took to his Truth Social and ranted about the alleged ‘sabotage’.
Trump wrote, “It’s amazing that Melania and I didn’t fall forward onto the sharp edges of these steel steps, face first. It was only that we were each holding the handrail tightly or, it would have been a disaster. This was absolutely sabotage, as noted by a day’s earlier “post” in The London Times that said UN workers “joked about turning off an escalator.” The people that did it should be arrested!”
Apart from escalator and teleprompter issues, Donald Trump has claimed that he later learned that during his speech, “the sound was completely off in the Auditorium.”
Trump said, “This wasn’t a coincidence, this was triple sabotage at the UN. They ought to be ashamed of themselves.”
The President said that he is calling for an immediate investigation via the Secret Service.
Now we know that the Trump administration won’t take the blame on itself, while the UN is also standing its ground. It remains to be seen how far this issue will go, and who’ll ultimately become the scapegoat.
