Trump Uses Melania For Sympathy Points In Unhinged Escalator Rant That's Dramatic Even For Him

After a United Nations' escalator broke down for Donald and Melania Trump, it caused people's brains to work overtime speculating about the cause. However, rather than something nefarious, what really happened is that Escalator-gate was caused by an accidental push of a button. Despite this straightforward explanation, Donald's still bothered by the experience. On September 24, 2025, the president made a lengthy post on Truth Social, airing his grievances about everything that went wrong during his U.N. visit. In an effort to get sympathy from his followers, Donald played up his perceived danger of the escalator debacle. "It's amazing that Melania and I didn't fall forward onto the sharp edges of these steel steps, face first," he asserted. "It was only that we were each holding the handrail tightly or, it would have been a disaster."

Donald's depiction differs from video footage of the event. While the abrupt stop does give him and Melania a slight jolt, neither is anywhere close to losing their balance. Even though he's directly behind his wife, Donald doesn't even bump into Melania. Rather than looking concerned, Melania seemed annoyed, aiming her shady side-eye at Donald, before walking the rest of the way.

Trump's depiction was a notable shift from when he recounted the escalator problem in his U.N. speech. "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," Donald commented (via USA Today), using the incident to bolster his ego.

Despite the United Nations' explanation that the escalator issue was accidental, Donald Trump remained dubious. "This was absolutely sabotage," he asserted on Truth Social. "The people that did it should be arrested!" The president wrote this in reference to the same article in The Times that Karoline Leavitt had tweeted about a day earlier. "UN staff members have joked that they may turn off the escalators and elevators and simply tell him they ran out of money, so he has to walk up the stairs," the article read. While the quip clearly didn't age well, it appeared to be tied to the U.N.'s desire to lower their electric bill.

Ironically, rather than Donald or Melania Trump, the person whose safety appeared to be the most at risk was the camera operator theorized to have started all this drama. Since he wasn't watching where he was going or wasn't adhering to standard escalator-riding safety protocol, it's fortunate he didn't trip or bump anyone.

Leavitt, who's frequently put her Trump obsession on blast, also didn't seem to buy the U.N.'s explanation, and she appeared on Fox News a day before Donald's post, positing a similar theory that U.N. employees might be culpable. While Escalator-gate might have quickly exited the news cycle, his Truth Social rant is keeping the discussion going. On X, formerly Twitter, one user reposted the president's remarks, and it generated over 1,000 comments in response.