The United Nations has been forced to issue a statement offering an innocent explanation for an escalator malfunction involving US President Donald Trump after the White House raised the possibility of sabotage.

In an incident shortly before Trump’s speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, the US president and the first lady, Melania Trump, had to walk up an escalator when the stairway came to an abrupt halt moments after they stepped on.

The snafu drew the ire of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who said on X that any UN staff found to have intentionally stopped the escalator should be “fired and investigated immediately”.

In her post, Leavitt included a screenshot of an article by The Times in which the British newspaper’s Washington editor, Katy Balls, said that UN

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