The Daily Populous Thursday September 25th, 2025 day edition
Authored by apnews.com and submitted by formeraide

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UNITED NATIONS (AP) — President Donald Trump broke from his prepared remarks at the United Nations on Tuesday to bemoan an inoperable escalator and a defective teleprompter, using the incidents to portray the global body as dysfunctional.

“All I got from the United Nations was an escalator that on the way up stopped right in the middle,” he mused, chopping the air with his hand.

But it turns out the cause was closer to Trump.

Stephane Dujarric, the U.N. spokesman, said a videographer from the U.S. delegation who ran ahead of him triggered the stop mechanism at the top of the escalator.

“The safety mechanism is designed to prevent people or objects accidentally being caught and stuck in or pulled into the gearing,” Dujarric said in a statement. “The videographer may have inadvertently triggered the safety function.”

As he began his speech, Trump also noted that the teleprompter wasn’t working. He joked that whoever was running the teleprompter “is in big trouble.”

A U.N. official speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue contributed that one to his side as well, saying the White House was operating the teleprompter for the president.

Regardless of the cause, it’s not unusual for escalators at the UN to stop working, as staff and visitors know quite well.

In recent months, U.N. offices in New York and Geneva have intermittently turned off elevators and escalators as part of steps to save money because of a “liquidity crisis” at the world body.

That’s due in part to delays in funding from the United States, which is the top donor of the world body.

Head on September 24th, 2025 at 22:10 UTC »

Sending my prompts and stairs.

blueintexas on September 24th, 2025 at 21:55 UTC »

An audio engineer on Reddit was sharing that the likely reason for audio troubles during his campaign is they throw out all of the local staff (often union) and substitute their own straight outta community college lackeys who don't really know the gear to take over. So you get what you pay for.

Think they have the same problem with security and communications details?

Relative_Position_26 on September 24th, 2025 at 21:37 UTC »

Classic trumpers. Play the victim when they are the problem.