"A bad escalator and a bad teleprompter" - Trump's joke to the world leaders explained as White House demands investigation into the UN staff 

US President Donald Trump's visit to the United States headquarters in New York was reportedly marred by a malfunctioning escalator and a broken teleprompter, prompting the White House to demand an investigation into the UN staff. Trump had been among the many world leaders gathered to address the United Nations General Assembly on September 23, 2025.

According to Reuters, the president, accompanied by his wife, Melania Trump, and their Secret Service agents, was seen at the entrance hall of the United Nations headquarters situated in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, when the incident with the escalator occurred.

A video capturing the incident showed that the escalator came to a halt as soon as Melania and Trump stepped on it. The clip showed Melania Trump slightly lurching forward as the escalator came to a sudden stop. The couple continued to climb up the seemingly malfunctioning escalator instead of taking the adjacent one, which seemed to be working in the clip.

Following this, Trump's teleprompter reportedly stopped working as he was in the middle of addressing 193 foreign dignitaries gathered at the assembly. This incident, coupled with the malfunctioning escalator, prompted the US president to joke about the technical difficulties he faced in his speech, saying:

“These are the two things I got from the United Nations - a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter."

Additionally, the president added that whoever was operating the teleprompter was "in big trouble." Meanwhile, he also spoke more about the escalator incident, adding that he “ended seven wars” and “all I got from the United Nations was an escalator that on the way up stopped right in the middle.” Furthermore, he said his wife would have fallen when the escalator stopped had she not been in "great shape."

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Trump's White House staff demands an investigation into the UN staff following the escalator incident

Karoline Leavitt, the White House's press secretary, recently said she and the Secret Service were looking into the recent malfunctions that President Donald Trump faced at the United Nations General Assembly.

On September 23, Leavitt took to X to share a recent article from The Times, dated September 21, 2025, which reported that UN staff had joked about wanting to turn off the escalators and elevators to make Trump climb the stairs. The press secretary added that if someone had "intentionally stopped" the escalator, then that person should be fired and investigated.

Furthermore, Leavitt called for accountability if people deliberately cause the malfunctions at the UN when she appeared on Fox News with Jesse Watters, adding:

"If we find that these were UN staffers, who are purposely trying to trip up - literally trip up - the president and the first lady of the United States? There better be accountability for those people and I will personally see to it."

She continued:

"So when you put all of this together [teleprompter, escalator], it doesn't look like a coincidence to me. And I know that we have people, including the United States Secret Service, who are looking into this to try to get to the bottom of it."

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UN staff claim the president's videographer triggered the escalator's built-in safety mechanism

Meanwhile, UN staff claim the escalator abruptly stopped after a videographer on the president's team unintentionally triggered the built-in safety mechanism. According to Reuters, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric stated that the escalator stopped "after a built-in safety mechanism on the comb step was triggered at the top of the escalator."

Dujarric added that a videographer had been travelling backwards up the escalator to capture Trump and his wife's arrival and may have "inadvertently triggered the safety function."

According to the BBC, the UN also denied its involvement in the malfunctioning teleprompter, claiming that the White House had used one of its own teleprompters for the president's speech, as they would know the speed to run the text across the screen.

Following the president's address, UN General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock also addressed the issue, saying, "The UN teleprompters are working perfectly."

President Donald Trump addressing world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly (Image via Getty)

Meanwhile, the president shared his thoughts about the malfunctions he faced at the UN headquarters in a post on his Truth Social platform. According to MSNBC, Trump wrote that he believes his speech was "well-received," adding that the broken escalator and teleprompter made his speech "more interesting."

"It was a great honor to speak before the United Nations. I believe the speech was very well received. ... The teleprompter was broken and the escalator came to a sudden hault as we were ridding up to the podium, but both of those events probably made the speech more interesting than it would have been otherwise. It is always an honor to speak at the United Nations, even if, their equipment is somewhat faulty. Make America Great Again!"

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The White House has not responded to the United Nations' recent findings regarding the escalator or teleprompter at the time of writing this article.

Edited by Juhi Marzia