President Donald Trump's visit to the United Nations on Tuesday got off to a shaky start when an escalator at the UN headquarters suddenly stopped right after he got on it.

A U.N. official said the United Nations understands that someone from the president’s party who ran ahead of him inadvertently triggered the stop mechanism on the escalator.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the White House was operating the teleprompter for the president.

Staff and visitors to United Nations institutions know the issue: In recent months, U.N. offices in New York and Geneva have intermittently turned off elevators and escalators as part of steps to save money because of a “liquidity crisis” at the world body.

That's due in part to delays in funding from the United States, which is the top donor of the world body.

In his speech to the U.N. General Assembly, Trump broke from his prepared remarks to bemoan the inoperable escalator and a defective teleprompter and say he’s never gotten much from the United Nations, despite its potential.

“All I got from the United Nations was an escalator that on the way up stopped right in the middle,” he mused, chopping the air with his hand.