US President Donald Trump returned to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday, marking his first appearance at the international forum since 2020. However, Trump and first lady Melania faced an unexpected situation as they arrived at the UN headquarters in New York ahead of the US President’s highly anticipated speech.
As the couple arrived, they stopped briefly to pose for the cameras, but as they moved forward and got on the escalator, it suddenly came to a halt, leaving them confused.
Both Trump and Melania were looking around in surprise, following which the first lady took lead and began walking up the stationary escalator, with Trump following her closely behind. The others who accompanied the couple followed them, while some of them opted for the stairs on the either side of the escalators.
VIDEO | New York, USA: Moment when escalator stops with US president Donald Trump, US first lady on it at the UN.
(Source: Third Party)
(Full video available on PTI Videos – https://t.co/n147TvrpG7) pic.twitter.com/wPvfUd2eGv
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 23, 2025
White House Seeks Probe, Alleges Halt ‘Intentional’
Following the escalator incident, a fuming White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday that if anyone “intentionally” stopped the escalator right before Trump and Melania stepped onto it, “they need to be fired and investigated immediately.”
The press secretary wrote on X: “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.”
According to a report by Associated Press, a UN official said earlier Tuesday that a person travelling with Trump inadvertently hit the stop lever on the escalator, which caused its sudden halt.
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric stated the escalator’s stop happened after a videographer who accompanied the US delegation travelled up the escalator before Trump and the first lady and may have accidentally triggered a safety function, AP reported.
“The safety mechanism is designed to prevent people or objects accidentally being caught and stuck in or pulled into the gearing,” Dujarric said in a statement. “The videographer may have inadvertently triggered the safety function.”
Trump Faces Telepromopter Failure During UNGA Speech
Trump also faced a teleprompter failure during his address. He mentioned the mishap and the faulty teleprompter in his UN speech, drawing laughter from the audience over the technical problems. The US President was then forced to read his speech from a paper due to the faulty teleprompter.
Opening his remarks, Trump joked about the teleprompter outage, quipping, “I can only say that whoever’s operating this teleprompter is in big trouble,” which prompted amused reactions from delegates.
He went on to remark, “All I got from the United Nations was an escalator that on the way up stopped right in the middle… and then a teleprompter that didn’t work,” adding, “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. We both stood.”
Despite the glitch, Trump carried on, reading from notes and emphasising that speaking without assistance allowed him to “speak more from the heart.” About ten minutes into the speech, the teleprompter was restored, but Trump signaled a preference for his traditional binder, citing its reliability.
In a post on Truth Social after the address, Trump called it “a great honour” to speak at the UN and said his remarks were “very well received.” He underscored the central themes of energy and migration, which are issues he has frequently championed.
According to Trump, the forum offered the ideal venue to make these points, noting, “It focused very much on energy and migration/immigration. I have been talking about this for a long period of time and this Forum, was the absolute best from the standpoint of making these two important statements”.
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