President Donald Trump is known for giving lengthy speeches that veer off topic, and his rhetoric usually leaves folks scratching their heads.
Trump spoke to representatives from nearly 50 countries in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Feb. 19, for his inaugural meeting of his Board of Peace. The president gathered world leaders to share the next peach plan, but the speech went off the rails when he got off topic, and what he said shocked everyone.
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Trump announced during his speech that his new Board of Peace — a multinational organization led by the U.S. — was donating $7 billion to reconstruct the Gaza Strip.
He later voiced his frustrations regarding his trip to the United Nations, where he delivered a speech in September. The teleprompter malfunctioned during the event, and the 79-year-old has been complaining about it ever since.
“In fact, I’m going to speak to the Secretary-General [of the U.N.] in a little while, he’s a good man, and I’ve had a good relationship, other than my last speech,” Trump complained during Thursday’s speech.
“They did turn off my teleprompter. I got up there, my teleprompter didn’t work! I’m sittin’ in front of all of you people and more, and I had no teleprompter,” he said. “I knew I was in trouble because I’m walking out, and the teleprompters over here, and I had the most beautiful speech ready.”
The smiling senior citizen goes off script, talking about a separate incident in the U.N. where the escalator froze as he and first lady Melania Trump were getting on it after entering the building in New York City, and they grabbed the guardrail to steady themselves.
“Yeah, I was all set to knock them dead,” Trump whined. “First, they had an escalator that stopped. You know … I’m lucky my movie star first lady was in front of me, ’cause I put my hand on a certain part of her body, and I was able to stop my fall,” he claimed.
Trump wasn’t done rambling yet.
“That was a very sharp stop,” he added. “So I said, ‘That was strange.’ I’ve been on a lot of escalators, that’s never happened before. Usually, it stops very slowly. … Our first lady was right in the proper location for me. I’m waving to people, and she was holding on a little tighter. She knew what was happening.”
Then the former reality star went in about the first lady’s documentary, “Melania,” and complained about the attention she has been getting.
“She has a very successful movie out right now,” Trump added. “Like, number one. And I would say it’s trouble because I always say there’s not room in one family for two stars. We can’t have two stars. In one family. I don’t know what that means, but it’s not good. But it is good because we are proud of her.”
After Trump claimed “Melania” was the “biggest-selling documentary in 20 years,” he finally went back to his speech.
Trump on UN: They turned off my teleprompter. First, we had an escalator that stopped. It's lucky my movie star first lady was in front of me—I put my hand on the certain part of her body and was able to stop my fall. She was in the proper location for me. pic.twitter.com/93arQpMl8g
— Acyn (@Acyn) February 19, 2026
After a clip was shared on X, one user responded with video evidence that showed Trump wasn’t honest about grabbing his wife for support with the caption, “Video proof that Melania didn’t save him when Trump’s security detail that tripped the UN escalator.”
“Trump continues to lie about the lies he lies about,” added another. One user asked the question that many others wondered and wrote, “How did this idiot ever get elected?”
In addition to going off on a tangent during his speech, Trump also took a nap during the meeting as other leaders spoke.
