At Tuesday’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), there was a scary moment just prior to President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump going up the escalator.

According to Fox News, the escalator stalled just before the two were set to walk up it, and some, including White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, are demanding that the incident be investigated and the person or persons behind it be fired. 

Notably, The New York Times reported that U.N. staffers had joked that they would stop the escalators before the Trumps proceeded to use them.

The White House bluntly assessed that the situation was an act of sabotage, and have demanded answers, including an investigation and consequences for those potentially behind it.

What's going on?

Leavitt was asked during an interview on "Jesse Watters Primetime" this week if she believes the incident was sabotage, and she held nothing back.

"That's definitely what it appears to be to me," she said. "There's was some concerning reporting over the weekend from the London Times… that U.N. globalist staffers were basically plotting to set up the President of the United States."

Leavitt added that the U.S. Secret Service has already launched an investigation into the incident.

"If we find that these were U.N. staffers who were purposefully trying to trip up, literally trip up the president and the first lady of the United States, well there better be accountability for those people," Leavitt added.

This is insane…

As Trump arrived to the UN, the escalator stopped working the moment he stepped on it.

Then the teleprompter stopped working the moment he got up to the podium to speak. pic.twitter.com/XBTgfr6zJ8

— Geiger Capital (@Geiger_Capital) September 23, 2025

Fox News noted:

A United Nations spokesperson later told Fox News that someone from the U.S. delegation or security detail ran up the escalator and then back down again before the Trumps were off the escalator. The act of running down the up-moving escalator triggered an alarm, halting it.

Social media responds

There were plenty of social media users who didn't buy the U.N.'s reasoning for the malfunction.

"This was Not Accidental, the Globalists UN puppets are sending a message that they will try to sabotage President Trump every step of the way. It time for President Trump to show them who controls the checkbook," one X user wrote.

Another X user wrote, "They hate him because they ain't him."

If the act was intentional, someone better be held accountable, and soon.