New York [US], September 25 : US President Donald Trump has alleged a "triple sabotage" at the United Nations headquarters during and prior to his address at the 80th session of the General Assembly, claiming an escalator malfunction, teleprompter failure, and audio issues were deliberate acts to undermine him.
In a fiery post on Truth Social, Trump demanded an immediate investigation and stated that the Secret Service is already involved, urging the preservation of security tapes.
"A REAL DISGRACE took place at the United Nations yesterday Not one, not two, but three very sinister events!" Trump wrote, detailing the incidents.
He described how the escalator to the main speaking floor "came to a screeching halt" while carrying him and First Lady Melania Trump, nearly causing them to fall "face first" onto sharp steel steps.
"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!" his post added.
Trump recounted proceeding to his speech without a working teleprompter for the first 15 minutes, improvising until it "kicked in", and later learning that the auditorium's sound system was "completely off", leaving world leaders unable to hear him without interpreters' earpieces.
"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," the US President fumed in his post.
Trump announced he is sending a copy of his statement to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, calling for an "immediate investigation" and criticising the organisation.
He specifically mentioned saving security tapes of the escalator, including the emergency stop button.
"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," his post further read.
The UN spokesman for the Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric, earlier had issued a statement, pushing back against the claims, stating that a videographer from the US delegation may have inadvertently triggered the escalator's safety mechanism by travelling backward up it.
"In an effort to document their arrival, a videographer from the US delegation stepped on to the escalator ahead of the President and First Lady. As the videographer, who was traveling backwards up the escalator reached the top , the First Lady, followed by President Trump, each mounted the steps at the bottom. At that moment (9:50am), the escalator came to a stop. Our technician, who was at the location, reset the escalator as soon as the delegation had climbed up to the second floor. A subsequent investigation, including 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. 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 statement read.
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