Donald Trump has said the United Nations should “be ashamed of themselves” because of what he has called a “triple sabotage” during his visit.
In a lengthy post on social media, Trump demanded an investigation into “three very sinister events” which took place during his visit, when he gave a nonsensical speech to the UN General Assembly.
The three technical malfunctions Trump was referring to were an escalator stopping as he and First Lady Melania stepped on, his teleprompter breaking at the start of his speech, and an apparent issue with his audio in the auditorium which the White House has accused of being lower for Trump’s address than it was for other speakers.
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The president wrote on Truth Social: “A REAL DISGRACE took place at the United Nations yesterday – Not one, not two, but three very sinister events!
“This wasn’t a coincidence, this was triple sabotage at the UN. They ought to be ashamed of themselves.”
The UN has already provided an explanation for the escalator breakdown. Stephane Dujarric, a spokesperson for UN secretary general Antonio Guterres, said a readout of the machine’s central processing unit “indicated that the escalator had stopped after a built-in safety mechanism on the comb step was triggered at the top of the escalator.”
They said this may have been triggered by Trump’s videographer who was travelling backwards up the escalator.
The UN have also said the sound system during Trump’s speech was designed to allow people to hear translated speeches through their earpieces.
And Dujarric gave no comment on the teleprompter issue, as this belonged to the US delegation.
A UN official told the BBC the White House had been operating the teleprompter, having brought their own laptops and plugged them into the UN’s system.
The White House had already made accusations of deliberate sabotage before Trump’s post.
Speaking to Fox News, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the incidents ‘definitely appear to be’ sabotage.
She mentioned a report from the Times over the weekend which said UN staff had “joked that they may turn off the escalators and elevators” on Trump’s arrival so that he has to “walk up the stairs.”
Referring to supposed audio issues during his speech, Trump said the sound was “completely off in the auditorium” and that world leaders “couldn’t hear a thing.”
But the UN has explained the sound system was “designed to allow people at their seats to hear speeches being translated into six different languages through earpieces.”