As a man who built a career in reality television before going into politics, President Donald Trump knows the show must go on.
And at the center of the world stage on Tuesday, at United Nations headquarters in New York City, Trump was hit with the kind of technical problem that would almost certainly have been a disaster for his teleprompter-reliant predecessor.
But Trump played it off like a showman, turning the situation to his own advantage — before he turned his fire on his audience.
As Trump took the dais, the teleprompter holding his speech wasn’t working, but Trump didn’t let that hold him back.
President Trump begins @UN General Assembly Address: “I don’t mind making this speech without a teleprompter, because the teleprompter is not working…Whoever’s operating this teleprompter is in big trouble.” pic.twitter.com/01t80AL9de
— CSPAN (@cspan) September 23, 2025
“I don’t mind making this speech without a teleprompter, because the teleprompter is not working,” Trump said, with admirable, ad lib cool.
“I feel very happy to be up here with you nevertheless,” he said. “And that way you speak more from the heart.
“I can only say that whoever’s operating this teleprompter is in big trouble.”
Did you watch any of Trump’s UN General Assembly speech?
It was a lighthearted line that drew an audible laugh from his U.N. audience, but the audience wasn’t laughing much after that. Trump went on to serious subjects — and he didn’t spare the U.N. at all.
Obviously reading from his binder for the next 10 minutes, Trump touted the accomplishments of his first year back in the White House, from good news for the U.S. economy to controlling or ending fighting in wars around the world.
(Don’t expect the establishment U.S. media to give Trump credit for it. A CBS News analysis on Sept. 2 noted, “Some of these peace efforts involved limited U.S. involvement, and in other instances, it remains unclear whether Mr. Trump’s role was decisive.”)
And he called out the U.N. for contributing exactly nothing to his success. A malfunctioning escalator when he and first lady Melania Trump arrived at the U.N. clearly did little to improve his mood.
President Trump: “These are the two things I got from the United Nations; a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter. Thank you very much.”#UNGA80 pic.twitter.com/yy0BAkaqtL
— CSPAN (@cspan) September 23, 2025
“I’m very honored to have done it,” he said.
“It’s too bad that I had to do these things instead of the United Nations doing them. …
“I ended seven wars, dealt with the leaders of each and every one of these countries, and never even received a phone call from the United Nations offering to help in finalizing the deal. …
“These are the two things I got from the United Nations: a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter. Thank you very much.”
At that point the teleprompter kicked into action, and Trump’s speech continued, pulling no punches when it came to the U.N. on topics from “climate change” to uncontrolled immigration for “asylum seekers.”
“The United Nations is funding an assault on Western countries and their borders,” Trump said.
The whole speech is below:
The applause at the end was polite.
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