Tensions escalated at the United Nations on Tuesday after President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump came to an abrupt halt at the start of an escalator ride, with the White House calling for repercussions if the stoppage was deliberate.
“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,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X.
In her post, Leavitt shared a screenshot from an article published in The Times, a British newspaper, on Sunday that had said: “To mark Trump’s arrival, UN staff members have joked that they may turn off the escalators and elevators and simply tell him they ran out of money, so he has to walk up the stairs.”
The U.N.’s 80th General Assembly kicked off Monday, and leaders from around the world gathered under the same roof. Trump gave an address Tuesday morning in which he touted his diplomatic skills, told those present that their countries are “going to hell” and questioned the very existence of the U.N.
Trump, who famously kicked off his 2016 presidential bid by riding down a golden escalator, addressed Tuesday’s escalator incident afterward, writing on Truth Social:
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!
It’s unclear whether the malfunction was deliberate. The office of the spokesperson for the U.N. secretary-general did not immediately respond to MSNBC’s request for comment.