‘A bad escalator and a bad teleprompter’: Trump mocks UN during General Assembly speech
Trump and first lady Melania were forced to walk up a broken escalator at the United Nations prompting an angry response from the president during his address to the General Assembly.
September 24, 2025 12:18 AM IST
First published on: Sep 24, 2025 at 12:18 AM IST
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President Donald Trump, center, and First Lady Melania Trump, upper right, walk up the escalator after it stalled as he rode up to the General Assembly Hall, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo)
US President Donald Trump criticised the United Nations after facing a broken escalator and a malfunctioning teleprompter at its New York headquarters.
During a fiery and hectoring speech, Trump told the global body “all I got from the United Nations was an escalator that on the way up stopped right in the middle. If the first lady wasn’t in great shape, she would have fallen, but she’s in great shape.”
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As he began his address, Trump added: “I don’t mind making this speech without a teleprompter, because the teleprompter is not working. I can only say that whoever is operating this teleprompter is in big trouble.”
He continued “This is these are two things I got from the United Nations, a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter. Thank you very much. And by the way, it’s working now.”
UN's escalator STOPS moment Trump & Melania step foot on it
Earlier in the day, Trump and first lady Melania were forced to walk up a broken escalator at the United Nations prompting an angry response from the president during his address to the General Assembly.
However, in a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “It was a great honour to speak before the United Nations. I believe the speech was very well received. It focused very much on energy and migration/immigration.
The teleprompter was broken and the escalator came to a sudden halt as we were riding up to the podium, but both of those events probably made the speech more interesting. It is always an honour to speak at the United Nations, even if their equipment is somewhat faulty.”
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President Donald Trump, center, and First Lady Melania Trump, upper right, walk up the escalator after it stalled as he rode up to the General Assembly Hall, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo) 
