UN secretary-general António Guterres has instituted a probe into allegations by President Donald Trump that the glitches he suffered during his visit to the UN headquarters on Tuesday were acts of sabotage.

Mr Trump had called for an investigation into what he described as “triple sabotage” during his speech at the UN General Assembly.

The General Debate was attended by around 1,000 delegates from around the world, including heads of state.

Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the secretary-general, said, “The secretary-general received correspondence from the Permanent Mission of the United States to the United Nations regarding events that transpired during President Trump’s visit to UN headquarters on 23 September. The secretary-general informed the U.S. Permanent Mission that he had already ordered a thorough investigation.”

The UN chief stated that “the UN is ready to cooperate in full transparency with relevant U.S. authorities on this matter to determine what caused the incidents referred to by the United States”.

In a letter to Mr Guterres, the U.S. leader pointed to three incidents. An escalator abruptly stopped as he and his wife, Melania, stepped on, a malfunctioning teleprompter, and what he claimed was a sound system that was “completely off” during his address.

He branded the incidents “sinister” and “absolute sabotage”, adding that the U.S. Secret Service is now involved and that arrests should follow.

Mr Trump, during his speech to world leaders, began complaining about the escalator breaking down on him and also about the teleprompter not working.

“I don’t mind making this speech without a teleprompter because the teleprompter is not working. I feel very happy to be up here with you, nevertheless, and that way you speak more from the heart. I can only say that whoever’s operating this teleprompter is in big trouble,” Mr Trump said. “All I got from the United Nations was an escalator that on the way up stopped right in the middle.”

Mr Trump added, “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’re both still. And then a teleprompter that didn’t work. These are the two things I got from the United Nations: a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter.”

UN officials, however, said no evidence of sabotage has been found in the incidents.

The UN spokesperson provided a detailed explanation of what happened to Mr. Trump at the UN.

“In answer to the many questions received about the escalator incident this morning involving the President of the United States and the First Lady, I have the following information to share: President Trump, accompanied by the first lady and delegation, arrived at the UNHQ building this morning, and entered through the delegates’ entrance. After passing through the security gates, President Trump and the First Lady approached the escalator,” Mr Dujarric said.

The spokesperson added that in an effort to document their arrival, a videographer from the U.S. delegation stepped onto the escalator ahead of the president and first lady.

He said as the videographer, who was travelling backwards up the escalator, reached the top, the first lady, followed by President Trump, each mounted the steps at the bottom.

“At that moment (9:50 a.m.), the escalator came to a stop. Our technician, who was at the location, reset the escalator as soon as the delegation had climbed up to the second floor,” Mr Dujarric said.

He said a subsequent investigation, including a readout of the machine’s central processing unit, indicated that the escalator had stopped after a built-in safety mechanism on the comb step was triggered at the top of the escalator.

“The safety mechanism is designed to prevent people or objects from accidentally being caught and stuck in or pulled into the gearing. The videographer may have inadvertently triggered the safety function described above,” he added.

(NAN)