September 25 2025, 08:15 
Many on the right, including White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, are outraged that an escalator at the United Nations building in New York City was not functioning properly yesterday when Donald Trump wanted to use it. Leavitt demanded that people be fired over the malfunctioning escalator, while others on the right said that Donald and Melania Trump could have been hurt because they had to walk up a flight of stairs.
But then it turned out to be a glitch caused by a White House staffer.
Related
Karoline Leavitt says trans people are being driven to “such evil and such hatred”
Donald and Melania Trump tried to use an escalator at the U.N. building yesterday, and it stopped working when they approached it. They were forced to walk up the escalator.
While most people have encountered escalators that aren’t operational and forget about them several seconds after walking up them, the right responded with outrage, accusing the U.N. of intentionally turning the escalator off as part of a plot to… make Trump walk up half a flight of stairs.
Insights for the LGBTQ+ community
Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today
“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,” Leavitt posted on X on Tuesday, sharing a paragraph from a story in The Times that some U.N. staffers were joking about turning off the escalator.
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.
The Times reported this on Sunday.
Source: LGBTQ Nation