President Donald Trump has ordered an investigation into what he described as ‘triple sabotage’ at the United Nations General Assembly, as he revealed exactly what First Lady Melania Trump said to him after his fiery speech.
On Tuesday (September 23), the 79-year-old spoke for almost an hour at the UN General Assembly, complaining that it was time for countries to ‘end the failed experiment of open borders’, and that territories continuing the practice were ‘going to hell’.
As well as insulting London mayor Sadiq Khan, the 47th POTUS used his platform to undermine UN efforts, celebrate his decision to withdraw the US from the Paris climate agreement, and claimed that ‘so-called green, renewable energy’ was ‘destroying a large part of the free world and a large part of our planet’.
President Donald Trump has complained of a ‘triple sabotage’ at the UN (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
The bizarre speech also saw Trump slamming the venue for providing a ‘bad teleprompter’ and a ‘bad escalator’, referring to an earlier incident that saw an escalator break down while he and his wife, Melania, 55, tried to climb.
“If the First Lady wasn’t in great shape, she would’ve fallen,” he joked in the speech.
After the meeting, Trump took to his social media site, Truth Social, to air his true feelings on the matter, calling the events ‘absolutely sabotage’.
“First, the escalator going up to the Main Speaking Floor came to a screeching halt. It stopped on a dime. It’s amazing that Melania and I didn’t fall forward onto the sharp edges of these steel steps, face-first,” he wrote.
“Then, as I stood before a Television crowd of millions of people all over the World, and important Leaders in the Hall, my teleprompter didn’t work. It was stone cold dark.”
The politician claimed Melania said to him afterwards that she couldn’t hear his speech (Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
The third ‘sinister’ event that Trump claimed took place was that the ‘sound was off’ so people in the hall couldn’t hear him.
“World Leaders, unless they used the interpreters’ earpieces, couldn’t hear a thing,” he alleged.
“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. They ought to be ashamed of themselves.”
The Republican confessed he would be sending a letter to the Secretary General, demanding an immediate investigation into the events of the day.
He added that all security tapes at the escalator should be saved, especially the emergency stop button, and that the Secret Service is involved.
The UN has since responded to Trump’s allegations, claiming the escalator likely stopped because of a White House videographer who ‘accidentally triggered a safety mechanism’.
UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric told NBC News that the built-in programme was ‘designed to prevent people or objects accidentally being caught and stuck in or pulled into the gearing’.
Despite shutting down the businessman’s claims of somebody at the UN deliberately shutting off the escalator, Dujarric has confirmed a ‘thorough investigation’ into all three of Trump’s complaints would take place.
He added that his office was ‘ready to cooperate in full transparency’ to find out why the escalator was shut off, the reason behind the faulty teleprompter, and if the sound in the General Assembly hall was indeed an issue.
