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New York: The Secret Service is investigating what US President Donald Trump branded “triple sabotage” of his United Nations appearance after an escalator stopped working while he was on it, and he experienced technical difficulties during his speech.
It comes as the White House replaced Joe Biden’s portrait on a new “Presidential Walk of Fame” with a picture of the automatic pen that Biden and other presidents used to sign executive orders, in a fresh sign of Trump’s obsession with the so-called “autopen scandal”.
The autopen replaces a portrait of Joe Biden in a new “Presidential Walk of Fame” along the West Wing Colonnade.Credit: Twitter
Trump’s is calling for arrests over the escalator failure at UN headquarters in New York that saw the staircase stop moving as soon as he and first lady Melania Trump stepped on it when they arrived ahead of his speech.
He seized on a report in The Sunday Times on the weekend, ahead of the summit, that said UN staff members were joking about switching off the escalator and elevators for Trump’s visit “so he has to walk up the stairs”.
The teleprompter also failed at the start of the president’s address, forcing him to use written notes. It began working again about 10 minutes into the speech, he said.
US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump hit an escalator failure at the UN.Credit: AP
There were other technical problems, too. Trump was barely audible through the speakers in the UN General Assembly Hall, while on the earpiece, the English channel was at one point interrupted by another language.
The White House has suggested these were deliberate acts, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt telling Fox News that when all these events were put together, “it doesn’t look like a coincidence to me”.
On a post on Truth Social on Wednesday (Thursday AEST), Trump said the escalator failure was “absolutely sabotage”, and called for those responsible to be arrested.
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“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. It was only that we were each holding the handrail tightly or, it would have been a disaster,” Trump wrote.
The president said that when the teleprompter failed, he immediately thought to himself: “What kind of a place is this?” Afterwards, he asked his wife for her thoughts on the speech. “I couldn’t hear a word you said,” she responded, according to Trump’s account.
“This wasn’t a coincidence, this was triple sabotage at the UN. They ought to be ashamed of themselves,” he wrote, adding that he was writing directly to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to 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.”
Donald Trump was besieged by a troublesome escalator and a broken teleprompter, which he made light of in his address.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
The UN has pushed back on the Trump administration’s characterisation of events, suggesting the escalator’s emergency switch could have been triggered by the president’s own videographer.
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said a readout of the escalator’s central processing unit indicated it “had stopped after a built-in safety mechanism on the comb step was triggered at the top of the escalator”.
The videographer had been travelling backwards up the escalator to capture his arrival with the first lady, he said. “The videographer may have inadvertently triggered the safety function.”
Meanwhile in Washington, the White House has ditched a portrait of Trump’s predecessor from a new “Presidential Walk of Fame” it has installed on the West Wing Colonnade, instead using a picture of an autopen used by Biden and other presidents to sign documents.
The installation, which the White House promoted on social media, runs alongside the Rose Garden, which Trump has rebranded into “the Rose Garden Club” for events.
Trump has been obsessed with Biden’s use of the device, using it as “proof” the former president was unable to execute his duties. He has frequently said the autopen – or those operating it – was really running the country.
US President Donald Trump has long been obsessed with Joe Biden’s use of the pen, despite it being common practice.Credit: White House/Twitter
The devices are commonly used by presidents, and others, from both parties, and Biden said in a previously reported statement: “I made the decisions during my presidency. I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false.”
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However, this month Axios reported on internal emails it had obtained that indicated some Biden aides had concerns about the clemency process and about the use of the autopen as a rush of pardons or commutations were granted at the end of Biden’s term.
Republicans on the congressional House Oversight Committee have launched an investigation into the Biden White House’s use of the pen, as well as whether Biden was unfit for office, whether his alleged cognitive decline was covered up and whether critical decisions were made by others on his behalf.
With Reuters
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