Donald Trump Stalls for 15 Seconds After U.N. Teleprompter Cuts Out

Donald Trump stalled at the beginning of his address to the United Nations when the teleprompter seemingly cut out.

The president attended the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, Sept. 23, and took the stage to address the body at its headquarters in New York City. But when the teleprompter apparently failed to display his speech, the president delayed his remarks to instead jokingly admonish the staffer in charge of managing the device.

“I don’t mind making the speech without a teleprompter,” Trump, 79, said as he waited for the script to return. “Because the teleprompter is not working.”

“I feel very happy to be up here with you here, nevertheless, and that way you speak more from the heart,” Trump continued to scattered laughter. “I can only say that whoever’s operating this teleprompter is in big trouble.”

An awkward silence set in for 15 seconds while the president looked around. He then turned toward his wife, Melania Trump, and said, “Hello, Madam First Lady,” before beginning his remarks by reading from a paper on the dais.

In his address, which was eventually displayed on the teleprompter, Trump claimed he “ended seven wars” and met with a wide range of world leaders to do so. He also accused the U.N. of failing to help him facilitate his various peace deals, told the leaders in the room that their “countries are going to hell” because of immigration, and slammed European nations in particular for allowing immigrants to “destroy your heritage.”

Then he called the U.N. out for having a faulty escalator in its headquarters.

“All I got from the United Nations was an escalator that, on the way up, stopped right in the middle,” Trump said, again receiving laughter from the crowd. “If the first lady wasn’t in great shape, she would have fallen. But she’s in great shape. We’re both in good shape, we both stood.”

“These are the two things I got from the United Nations — a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter,” Trump added.

Trump previously belittled his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, for using a teleprompter to give his speeches.

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