On September 23, as Donald Trump and his wife Melania stepped onto an escalator at the U.N. in New York City, the escalator abruptly stopped.

In a note to reporters, a U.N. secretary general spokesperson said that a White House videographer may have been responsible for the malfunction:

The escalator had stopped after a built-in safety mechanism on the comb step was triggered at the top of the escalator. The safety mechanism is designed to prevent people or objects accidentally being caught and stuck in or pulled into the gearing. The videographer may have inadvertently triggered the safety function described above.

The following day, September 24, Trump posted the following on Truth Social:

A REAL DISGRACE took place at the United Nations yesterday — Not one, not two, but three very sinister events! First, the escalator going up to the Main Speaking Floor came to a screeching halt. It stopped on a dime. It's amazing that Melania and I didn't fall forward onto the sharp edges of these steel steps, face first. It was only that we were each holding the handrail tightly or, it would have been a disaster. This was absolutely sabotage, as noted by a day's earlier "post" in The London Times that said UN workers "joked about turning off an escalator." The people that did it should be arrested! Then, as I stood before a Television crowd of millions of people all over the World, and important Leaders in the Hall, my teleprompter didn't work. It was stone cold dark. I immediately thought to myself, "Wow, first the escalator event, and now a bad teleprompter. What kind of a place is this?" I then proceeded to make a Speech without a teleprompter, which kicked in about 15 minutes later. The good news is the Speech has gotten fantastic reviews. Maybe they appreciated the fact that very few people could have done what I did. And third, after making the Speech, I was told that the sound was completely off in the Auditorium where the Speech was made, that World Leaders, unless they used the interpreters' earpieces, couldn't hear a thing. The first person I saw at the conclusion of the Speech was Melania, who was sitting right up front. I said, "How did I do?" And she said, "I couldn't hear a word you said." This wasn't a coincidence, this was triple sabotage at the UN. They ought to be ashamed of themselves. I'm sending a copy of this letter to the Secretary General, and I demand an immediate investigation. No wonder the United Nations hasn't been able to do the job that they were put in existence to do. All security tapes at the escalator should be saved, especially the emergency stop button. The Secret Service is involved. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

The London Times report Trump referenced states the following:

The Sunday Times reported that figures inside the UN had been overheard "joking" about stunts they could pull to highlight the its funding shortfall because the Trump administration was withholding cash. One joke doing the rounds was that they could turn off the escalators and lifts and simply tell Trump they had ran out of money.

On September 24, U. N. Secretary-General António Guterres' office said it had ordered a "thorough investigation" into the three events Trump mentioned in his Truth Social post.

After the escalator malfunction event, conspiracies theories surfaced.

Speaking on Fox News, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said:

I put out a statement earlier when there was concerning reporting over the weekend from The London Times, as you pointed out, that UN globalist staffers were basically plotting to set up the president of the United States. And first it was the escalator, then it was the teleprompter, and then Katie Pavlich from [the news website] Townhall … noticed that the audio inside of the room was much lower and different for the president of the United States than the previous speakers. So when you put all of this together, 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. And if we find that these were UN staffers who were purposely trying to trip up, literally trip up the president and the first lady of the United States, well, there better be accountability for those people, and I will personally see to it.

Fox News host Jesse Watters said:

They sabotaged them, and they could've hurt the first lady. I mean, this is an insurrection, and what we need to do is either leave the U.N. or we need to bomb it. It is in New York, though, right? Could be some fallout there—alright. Maybe gas it? No? OK. But we need to destroy it. Maybe can we demolish the building? Have everybody leave and then we will demolish the building?

Commentary:

Notice that Trump called the three events "sinister," "absolutely sabotage," and he said those responsible should be "arrested."

Trump also said "This wasn't a coincidence, this was triple sabotage at the UN."

Notice that Karoline Leavitt said that "UN globalist staffers" were "basically plotting to set up the president of the United States."

Notice that Jesse Watters also claimed "sabotage," he claimed the event was an "insurrection," then he went on to talk about bombing the U.N. building.

If ever there was a glaring, in-your-face example of how far removed from sanity Trump and MAGA have drifted, this is it.

The U.N. gave a reason for the escalator malfunction. In all likelihood, further investigation will confirm its reason.

According to a September 23, 2025 article entitled "Leaders face microphone failures at UN as Türkiye, Canada, Indonesia raise Palestine and Gaza", microphone failures also affected speeches delivered by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Idonesian President Prabowo Subianto, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

If Trump was the one being "sabotaged" as he said, why is it that three other prominent world leaders had microphone issues as well?

Leavitt claims the the escalator malfunction was a plot by "UN globalist staffers." To make a claim like this, as if it were fact, is a very, very long stretch from a news article stating that some U.N. workers were joking about it. Do you really, truly believe that U.N. workers would pull a stunt like this on the president of the United States? The likelihood of this is nearly zero.

I think Watters remarks speak for themselves. If you've been paying attention, you know that he's just another idiotic, lying Trump sycophant.

If it turns out that someone at the U.N. intentionally stopped the escalator, then I will admit that in this case I was wrong. Until that time, I see this as a prime example of how warped and paranoid Trump and his sycophants have become. And it's only going to get worse as time passes.