WASHINGTON

The UN said Tuesday that a videographer from the US delegation was responsible for an escalator malfunction affecting President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump at UN headquarters.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric issued a statement after White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt demanded an investigation and possible firings of UN staff, citing The Times report that UN employees had joked about turning off escalators and elevators to force Trump to take the stairs upon his arrival.

"President Trump, accompanied by the First Lady and delegation, arrived at the UNHQ building this morning, and entered through the Delegate's entrance," said Dujarric.

He explained that a US videographer, attempting to film the arrival, walked backwards up the escalator and “may have inadvertently triggered” a built-in safety mechanism designed to prevent accidents.

The escalator stopped around 9.50 am local time (1350GMT) as Trump and the first lady stepped on, forcing them to walk up to the second floor, according Dujarric.

"A subsequent investigation, including a readout of the machine's central processing unit, indicated that the escalator had stopped after a built-in safety mechanism on the comb step was triggered at the top of the escalator," he said. "The safety mechanism is designed to prevent people or objects accidentally being caught and stuck in or pulled into the gearing. The videographer may have inadvertently triggered the safety function described above," he added.

Earlier, Leavitt wrote on the US social media company, X: “If someone at the UN intentionally stopped the escalator as the President and First Lady were stepping on, they need to be fired and investigated immediately.”

Trump mocked the incident during his General Assembly speech. “All I got from the United Nations was an escalator that on the way up stopped right in the middle. If the first lady wasn’t in great shape, she would have fallen,” he said.

When the teleprompter malfunctioned at the start of his speech, Trump added: “I don’t mind making this speech without a teleprompter, because the teleprompter is not working. ... These are the two things I got from the United Nations: a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter.”