President Donald Trump’s awkward moment at the United Nations has inspired the latest comical jab from his online tormentor, California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Newsom and many online are still laughing at the viral clip of Trump and first lady Melania getting stuck on an escalator after it abruptly stopped when they stepped on. He addressed the matter during his televised speech at the U.N. General Assembly to global leaders.
Trump ranted about the halted escalator on social media and called for an investigation into what he calls “sabotage.” He also complained about apparent teleprompter and sound issues, adding “The Secret Service is involved.”
“A REAL DISGRACE took place at the United Nations yesterday — Not one, not two, but three very sinister events!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
Escalator-gate quickly became a major talking point on conservative outlets, with Fox News amplifying Trump’s allegations of sabotage.
“The Five” panelist Jesse Watters escalated the rhetoric by suggesting the American military should retaliate after Melania was reportedly exposed to potential harm, a remark that Newsom, 57, seized on to mock Trump’s manhood and troll his political opponent once again on X
“I only walk up escalators because that’s what REAL MANLY MEN do,” Newsom posted on X to his 2.6 million followers on Sept. 23, in response to the Fox News segment.
He returned to X two days later to deliver another dig at Trump, sharing a video of an escalator at the billionaire businessman’s Manhattan skyscraper.
“A REAL DISGRACE. Escalator was broken at Trump Tower today. I’ve launched an investigation into this matter,” Newsom mockingly posted on Sept. 25.
Newsom trolling Trump over his self-titled building on Fifth Avenue sparked additional reactions to the days-long media attention surrounding the U.N. escalator incident.
“Sad! Even the escalator that launched his campaign refuses to carry the weight of Trump’s lies anymore,” one user joked, referring to his infamous campaign launch event in 2015.
“Finally, some accountability. The escalator has been enabling Trump’s downward spiral since 2015. Glad [Newsom] is on the case,” another flippant person quipped.
A third tongue-in-cheek reply on the social networking app read, “We need to find who is responsible and throw them under the prison! This is insane!”
The sarcasm continued when someone tweeted, “Please investigate. I can’t believe they’d leave Trump a sitting duck like that.” Another person on Threads said, “I can’t…I just can’t stop laughing.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt co-signed Trump’s “sabotage” claim, posting on X,
“If someone at the UN intentionally stopped the escalator as the President and First Lady were stepping on, they need to be fired and investigated immediately,” she posted, referring to a Times of London story that ran on Sunday.
Hahahaha. His Cankles must have been screaming.
— TheRealThelmaJohnson (@TheRealThelmaJ1) September 23, 2025
In a separate FOX interview with Waters, Leavitt vowed she would “personally” ensure someone was held “accountable” for attempting to “trip up” the Trumps.
Newsom’s online jabs at Trump by parodying his aggressive communication tactics have made him one of the president’s most headline-grabbing critics.
Trump’s “A REAL DISGRACE” quote being repurposed by Newsom to ridicule the nearly 80-year-old politician created another comical chapter in the U.N. escalator story as speculation about the situation continued to run rampant.
A U.N. secretary-general representative attempted to quell the conspiracy theories floating online by issuing a statement in the wake of Trump’s demand for a probe into why the moving staircase stopped working.
Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, suggested a videographer from the U.S. delegation may have accidentally triggered the escalator’s safety function at the top of the steps, causing it to be cut off.
