‘If we find that these were UN staffers’: Secret Service launches probe into Trump escalator stop

The U.S. Secret Service has launched an investigation into a suspicious malfunction involving a United Nations escalator that abruptly stopped as former President Donald Trump and former First Lady Melania Trump stepped on it, according to Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Leavitt confirmed the probe and raised alarms over what she described as a possible coordinated effort to embarrass or endanger the former president during his UN visit.

“If we find that these were UN staffers, who are purposely trying to trip up—literally trip up—the president and the first lady of the United States? There better be accountability for those people and I will personally see to it,” Leavitt said.

She cited a recent London Times report alleging that “UN globalist staffers were basically plotting to set up the president of the United States,” framing the escalator incident as part of a broader pattern.

Leavitt also claimed other irregularities occurred during Trump’s UN appearance, including allegedly manipulated audio levels. “The audio inside of the room was much lower and different for the president of the United States than the previous speaker,” she noted.

“When you put all of this together—teleprompter, escalator—it doesn’t look like a coincidence to me,” Leavitt said, adding that Secret Service personnel are “looking into this to try to get to the bottom of it.”

Neither the United Nations nor the Secret Service has issued a public statement as of Wednesday morning.