‘Triple sabotage at UN’: Trump says he is ‘victim of three sinister events’ at UN, Secret Service probing escalator incident

Trump suggested in his post that he was in a sour mood at the UN because of the triple mishaps that he indicated was part of a conspiracy against him. The US president alleged that his teleprompter went dark just ahead of his speech and came back about 15 minutes later. He claimed that world leaders couldn’t hear him because the sound system had failed.

“Not one, not two, but three very sinister events!” Trump wrote. He further added, “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.”

However, giving a clarification on the matter, a United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that a videographer from the US delegation who ran ahead of Trump may have “inadvertently” hit the stop mechanism at the top of the escalator. The UN official further added that the teleprompter was being operated by the White House and not the organisation.

Trump was attending the UN General Assembly session, where he gave a speech criticising the institution for having squandered its potential.

(with inputs from Reuters, AP)