White House Seeks Investigation into Trump's UN Escalator Incident

During President Donald Trump's visit to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, an escalator malfunctioned as he and First Lady Melania Trump stepped onto it, causing them to ascend the stairs manually. Later, during his address, the President experienced a teleprompter failure. He humorously remarked, "These are the two things I got from the United Nations - a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter," eliciting laughter from the assembly.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt expressed serious concern over the incidents, stating, "If someone at the U.N. intentionally stopped the escalator as the President and First Lady were stepping on, they need to be fired and ... ." She indicated that the Secret Service is investigating the matter.

The United Nations attributed the escalator stoppage to a safety mechanism likely triggered by a U.S. delegation videographer who was walking backward while filming the President's arrival. U.N. spokesperson Stephane D ... explained, "The safety mechanism is designed to ... . The videographer may have inadvertently triggered ... ."

Regarding the teleprompter malfunction, a U.N. official noted that the White House operated its own equipment during the speech. After President Trump's remarks, U.N. General Assembly ... stated, "The U.N. teleprom ... ."

The White House has not provided additional comments on the incidents as of Wednesday.