JUST IN: Secret Service Investigating UN Escalator Mishap As Possible Sabotage

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed late Tuesday that the U.S. Secret Service is investigating the abrupt halting of an escalator that had just been boarded by President Donald Trump as he made his way to the floor of the United Nations’ General Assembly on Tuesday.

Appearing on Fox News, Leavitt followed up on earlier suggestions made on social media that U.N. staffers may have coordinated to play a prank on the president. A Sunday report suggested that employees were mulling the idea of shutting down the escalator when Trump stepped on, joking that the global agency had run out of money due to his administration’s refusal to fund it.

“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 wrote on X.

She told host Jesse Watters that the malfunction may have been an act of sabotage and that the Secret Service is now investigating the cause.

“That’s definitely what it appears to be to me,” she said. “There 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.”

“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,” she added.

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A U.N. spokesperson told the outlet that someone from the U.S. delegation or security ran up the escalator before turning around and running back down. The act of running backwards down the moving staircase triggered an alarm, which they claimed disabled it.

“After passing through the security gates, President Trump and the First Lady approached the escalator,” said Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres. “In an effort to document their arrival, a videographer from the US delegation stepped on to the escalator ahead of the President and First Lady. As the videographer, who was traveling backwards up the escalator reached the top, the First Lady, followed by President Trump, each mounted the steps at the bottom. At that moment (9:50am), the escalator came to a stop.”

Right as Trump stepped on, the escalator stopped as a result, Dujarric told Fox News.

“Our technician, who was at the location, reset the escalator as soon as the delegation had climbed up to the second floor,” he added. “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. The safety mechanism is designed to prevent people or objects from accidentally being caught and stuck in or pulled into the gearing.”

After the escalator malfunctioned, Trump made light of the situation during his open remarks to the packed auditorium of international assemblymen.

“I feel very happy to be up here with you, nevertheless — and that way you speak more from the heart — I can only say that whoever is operating this teleprompter is in big trouble,” he said, drawing laughs from the crowd.