President Donald Trump accused the United Nations of “triple sabotage” and called for an investigation into the technical issues he experienced during his trip to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday.
"A REAL DISGRACE took place at the United Nations yesterday — Not one, not two, but three very sinister events!" he wrote Wednesday on Truth Social.
The first occurred on the escalator, which came to an abrupt stop as he and first lady Melania Trump were going to the main speaking floor.
"It’s amazing that Melania and I didn’t fall forward onto the sharp edges of these steel steps, face first," he noted. "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!"
Secondly, the teleprompter didn't work for his speech to millions of people worldwide.
"It was stone cold dark," he said. "I immediately thought to myself, 'Wow, first the escalator event, and now a bad teleprompter. What kind of a place is this?' I then proceeded to make a Speech without a teleprompter, which kicked in about 15 minutes later. The good news is the Speech has gotten fantastic reviews. Maybe they appreciated the fact that very few people could have done what I did."
Finally, unless leaders used the interpreters' earpieces, there was no sound in the auditorium for his speech.
"The first person I saw at the conclusion of the Speech was Melania, who was sitting right up front," he recalled. "I said, 'How did I do?' And she said, 'I couldn’t hear a word you said.'"
Trump argued the three technical issues were no "coincidence."
"This was triple sabotage at the UN," he said. "They ought to be ashamed of themselves. I’m sending a copy of this letter to the Secretary General, and I demand an immediate investigation. 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. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
U.N. Secretary General spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told CNN a "thorough investigation" has already been ordered.
“The Secretary-General informed the US Permanent Mission that he had already ordered a thorough investigation, and he conveyed that the UN is ready to cooperate in full transparency with relevant US authorities on this matter to determine what caused the incidents referred to by the United States," Dujarric said.