The incident occurred on September 23 as the couple arrived to attend and deliver remarks at the UN General Assembly. Trump looked around in confusion before he, Melania, and Secret Service agents walked up the halted escalator on foot.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt sharply criticized the mishap, warning that if any UN staff had intentionally caused the stoppage to make the President and First Lady stumble, they should be “fired and investigated immediately.” She added that the U.S. Secret Service was also reviewing the matter.
The UN quickly launched its own inquiry. Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric later confirmed that a White House cameraman had accidentally triggered the emergency stop mechanism. “The escalator halted when its safety system was activated. It is designed to prevent injury if an object or person is caught. A White House videographer may have pressed the button inadvertently,” he explained.
The escalator wasn’t the only glitch during Trump’s visit. When he began his speech before the General Assembly, the teleprompter failed to function. “I don’t mind giving this speech without a teleprompter — it’s not working. Two things I got from the UN: a broken escalator and a broken teleprompter,” Trump quipped, adding jokingly that whoever was responsible for the malfunction was “in big trouble.”
An anonymous UN official later told AP that the teleprompter was in fact operated by White House staff, not the UN.
Trump later downplayed the disruptions, posting on Truth Social that the mishaps made his UN address “even more interesting.” He added: “It’s always an honor to speak at the UN, even when their equipment has a few glitches.”