New York [US], September 23 : US President Donald Trump addressed the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday for the first time since 2020 and made the UN audience laugh by pointing out a technical malfunction, including a teleprompter failure and a bad escalator.
Trump faced an unexpected glitch at the UN General Assembly as his teleprompter malfunctioned at the start of his major foreign policy address. Trump quipped about the operator being in trouble, drawing laughter.
Trump told the global body, "All I got from the United Nations was an escalator that on the way up stopped right in the middle... and then a teleprompter that didn't work," he said. "If the First Lady wasn't in great shape, she would've fallen. But she's in great shape. We're both in good shape. We both stood."
"I don't mind making this speech without a teleprompter because the teleprompter is not working," he said. "I can only say that whoever's operating this teleprompter is in big trouble." He added that this way, "you speak more from the heart."
Roughly 10 minutes after his speech started, Trump said that the teleprompter had started working. But Trump, who had switched to reading notes from a binder on the podium, said that he might prefer to continue reading it the old-fashioned way, as per the USA Today report.
In a post on Truth Social, he called it a "great honor" to address the United Nations, adding that his speech was "very well received."
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/115254363337739989
"It was a great honor to speak before the United Nations. I believe the speech was very well received. It focused very much on energy and migration/immigration. I have been talking about this for a long period of time and this Forum, was the absolute best from the standpoint of making these two important statements. I hope everybody gets to watch it!" Trump wrote.
President Donald Trump returned to the United Nations General Assembly for the first time since his second term began, delivering a speech that extended "the hand of American leadership and friendship" to nations willing to collaborate on global safety and prosperity.
Accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, Trump's address critiqued US allies on various issues, reflecting his assertive stance on international relations.
During his speech, Trump launched a blistering attack on London Mayor Sadiq Khan, making the extraordinary claim that London wants to "go to sharia law," and criticised European countries for their immigration and green energy policies.
He dismissed efforts to curb climate change as a "green energy scam" and a "hoax." The speech, which also saw Trump claim Christianity is the "most persecuted religion" and mention a planned meeting with Brazilian President Lula da Silva, concluded to muted applause.
Reiterating his pride in addressing the world body, Trump added, "It is always an honour to speak at the United Nations, even if their equipment is somewhat faulty. Make America Great Again!"
Building on his reflections, Trump also highlighted his efforts to negotiate ceasefires in multiple conflicts, claiming credit for seven agreements, despite Washington's role in some of those initiatives being disputed.
Presenting his record before world leaders, Trump argued that his actions showed the shortcomings of the United Nations. "It's too bad that I had to do these things instead of the United Nations doing them, and sadly, in all cases, the United Nations did not even try to help in any of them," he said.
Reflecting further, Trump explained, "I didn't think of it at the time because I was too busy working to save millions of lives, that is, the saving and stopping of these wars. But later, I realised that the United Nations wasn't there for us."
Challenging the organisation's role, Trump remarked, "That being the case, what is the purpose of the United Nations? The UN has such tremendous potential ... but it's not even coming close to living up to their potential for the most part, at least for now, all they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter and then never follow that letter up."