Donald Trump demanded a formal investigation on Wednesday into three technical issues that disrupted his speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday. He called the mishaps—a malfunctioning escalator, a faulty teleprompter, and an apparent sound problem—“triple sabotage.”
UN officials told reporters that at least two of the problems were likely caused by Trump’s own delegation. Stephane Dujarric, the chief UN spokesman, said the escalator stopped because a safety mechanism had been triggered accidentally, most likely by a White House videographer moving backward while filming Trump’s ascent.
A UN source told veteran correspondent Colum Lynch that the US team was operating the teleprompter from their own laptop, and Trump arrived at the podium before it was ready. The third issue involved interruptions in the hall’s Portuguese interpretation, according to Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the UN, who was previously a national security adviser.
Trump, however, claimed on social media that the audio problem was severe, saying the sound in the auditorium was “completely off” and that world leaders could not hear him unless they used interpreter earpieces. Video evidence suggests otherwise, as delegates responded to his remarks during the speech.
For example, when Trump joked, “I can only say that whoever’s operating this teleprompter’s in big trouble,” the audience immediately laughed. When he criticized other nations for recognizing Palestine, calling it a “reward” for “horrible atrocities” by Hamas militants, Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon nodded in agreement and later posted video praising the speech.
Other US officials, including energy secretary Chris Wright and senator Marco Rubio, were seen smiling during Trump’s description of the escalator incident. Rubio tweeted on Tuesday that the speech was “incredible,” contradicting Trump’s claim of a major audio failure in the hall.
Despite evidence suggesting the technical problems were minor and partly caused by his own team, Trump has called for a full investigation into what he describes as “sabotage” at the UN.
