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Headline Roundup September 25th, 2025

Trump Accuses UN of ‘Triple Sabotage,’ Orders Secret Service to Investigate

Summary from the AllSides News Team

President Donald Trump has ordered the Secret Service to investigate a series of mishaps he experienced while attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.

The Mishaps: During their entrance, an escalator stopped abruptly as he and First Lady Melania stepped on. During his speech, Trump said a teleprompter malfunctioned and that the sound was “completely off” in the auditorium.

The Causes: The UN said one of Trump’s videographers on the escalator with him may have triggered its safety mechanism, and that the teleprompter was being operated by White House officials during his speech. As for the audio, Trump said, “World Leaders, unless they used the interpreters' earpieces, couldn't hear a thing.” The UN later said, “The sound system was designed to allow people at their seats to hear speeches being translated into six different languages through earpieces.”

Key Quotes: Trump wrote on Truth Social, “A REAL DISGRACE took place at the United Nations yesterday — Not one, not two, but three very sinister events!” He added, “All security tapes at the escalator should be saved, especially the emergency stop button. The Secret Service is involved.”

For Context: Trump also mentioned a report from The Times (Center bias) on Sunday, which claimed, “To mark Trump’s arrival, UN staff members have joked that they may turn off the escalators and elevators and simply tell him they ran out of money, so he has to walk up the stairs.”

How The Media Covered It: Outlets across the spectrum covered the news fairly similarly, including quotes and explanations from both Trump administration and UN officials, though sometimes offered different quotes or portions of them.

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Featured Coverage of this Story

Trump says UN escalator outage was ‘absolutely sabotage’ – calls for arrests
News

President Trump called for arrests to be made related to an escalator at the United Nations headquarters that abruptly stopped working as soon as he and first lady Melania Trump stepped onto it Tuesday.

The sudden escalator outage, which nearly caused the first lady to fall over, was one of at least three snafus that Trump, 79, noticed while he was in the building to address world leaders and diplomats at the UN General Assembly in New York.

“A REAL DISGRACE took place at the United Nations yesterday — Not...

Open on New York Post (News)
Trump demands inquiry over UN 'triple sabotage' after escalator and teleprompter mishaps
News

Donald Trump has demanded an investigation into what he called a "triple sabotage" during his visit to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.

In a post on social media, the US president referred to an escalator abruptly stopping as he and First Lady Melania Trump stepped on, a teleprompter malfunctioning during his speech, and an audio issue in the auditorium.

A UN official said the sound system was designed to allow people to hear translated speeches through earpieces.

Open on BBC News
Trump demands investigation into "triple sabotage" at UN
Trump demands investigation into "triple sabotage" at UN

Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images

News

President Trump said Wednesday the Secret Service is looking into "three very sinister events" at the United Nations concerning issues with an escalator, teleprompter and audio at the UN headquarters in New York City a day earlier.

Open on Axios

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