ISTANBUL 

The White House demanded Tuesday that the UN investigate and potentially fire staff members for a malfunctioning escalator that affected US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump earlier in the day.

"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," White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt wrote on the US social media company, X.

Leavitt referenced The Times report Sunday that said UN staff members joked they might "turn off the escalators and elevators and simply tell him they ran out of money, so he has to walk up the stairs" to mark Trump's arrival.

The incident occurred as Trump arrived to address the 80th UN General Assembly on Tuesday. The escalator stopped halfway, forcing Trump and his wife to walk up the steps the rest of the way.

Trump criticized UN facilities during his 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."