On September 23, 2025, what should have been a routine arrival for former President Donald Trump at the United Nations headquarters in New York City became a flashpoint for controversy, cable news theatrics, and international scrutiny. As Trump and First Lady Melania Trump stepped onto an escalator at the UN, the machinery abruptly halted, forcing the pair to walk up the stairs—a moment that drew the attention of photographers and set off a chain reaction of speculation and commentary across the media landscape.
Almost immediately, Fox News host Jesse Watters seized on the incident during two high-profile broadcasts, primetime and the panel show The Five. Watters, known for his provocative style, suggested that the escalator malfunction was no accident. "Daddy's not happy," he quipped, before declaring on air, "This is an insurrection. What we need to do is either leave the UN, or we need to bomb it. It is in New York, though. There might be some fallout." As reported by Metro, Watters’ comments were delivered with a mix of sarcasm and outrage, but their extreme nature left both his co-hosts and many viewers uneasy.
Watters doubled down on The Five, where he mused about bombing or even gassing the UN building—a suggestion that prompted immediate discomfort among his colleagues. Dana Perino, a former White House press secretary, interjected, "Let’s not do that," while Emily Compagno added, "He’s kidding, he’s kidding." The awkward laughter and squirming from the panel underscored the tension between Watters’ over-the-top rhetoric and the boundaries of televised political commentary. According to The Daily Beast, Watters even entertained the idea of demolishing the building after evacuating everyone, saying, "Maybe we can demolish the building? Have everybody leave, and then we’ll demolish the building."
Trump himself addressed the incident during his UN speech, injecting humor into the situation. "These are the two things I got from the United Nations – a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter," he said, drawing laughter from the audience. He added, "If the first lady weren’t in great shape, she would have fallen. We’re both in great shape." The president’s lighthearted approach contrasted sharply with the fevered speculation on Fox News, but the White House still demanded an investigation into the malfunction, citing concerns for the First Lady’s safety, as reported by Metro.
Behind the scenes, the truth was far less dramatic than the televised uproar. According to a statement from UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, the escalator’s emergency safety mechanism had been triggered inadvertently by a member of Trump’s own delegation—a personal videographer who rode ahead of the president and the First Lady. The safety system, designed to prevent accidents, stopped the escalator as a precaution. The UN reset the escalator after the group had climbed to the second floor. As for the teleprompter issues that marred the beginning of Trump’s speech, a UN official told ABC News that the device was operated by the White House, not UN staff, further undermining claims of sabotage.
Nevertheless, Watters’ comments touched a nerve, both domestically and internationally. The idea of bombing the United Nations—an institution headquartered in the heart of New York City and dedicated to global diplomacy—was widely condemned as reckless, even in jest. Social media lit up with criticism, and news outlets from The Huffington Post to The Spokesman-Review chronicled the episode, noting the discomfort among Watters’ co-hosts and the broader implications of such inflammatory rhetoric.
For some, the incident was emblematic of a larger trend in American media, where hyperbole and outrage can quickly overshadow facts. As Metro pointed out, the episode was just the latest in a series of controversial statements from Fox News hosts. In the days leading up to the UN incident, another Fox anchor, Brian Kilmeade, faced backlash for suggesting that mentally ill homeless people should be "killed"—a remark he later apologized for, calling it an "extremely callous remark." The show’s panelists debated the issue, with Lawrence Jones insisting that those who refuse help should be jailed, and Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia responding on social media that "nobody deserves to be murdered by the government for mental illness or poverty."
Internationally, the timing of Watters’ remarks was especially fraught. While Fox News hosts were joking—however inappropriately—about bombing the UN, Russian state television was airing much graver threats. According to Metro, Russian commentator Sergei Karaganov argued that President Putin would be making a mistake not to use tactical nuclear weapons in Europe to "prevent a larger war between the US and Russia." Karaganov’s remarks, though made in a different context, underscored the volatility of the global moment and the dangers of careless talk about violence on the world stage.
The White House’s demand for an investigation into the escalator malfunction was, in the end, more about optics than substance. The facts, as established by UN officials and corroborated by multiple outlets, made clear that there was no sabotage—just an unfortunate technical glitch compounded by human error. Yet the incident, magnified by televised outrage and political grandstanding, became a symbol of the polarized and performative nature of contemporary American politics.
For viewers and citizens alike, the episode offered a revealing look at how minor mishaps can be transformed into national controversies, especially in an era where the line between news and entertainment is increasingly blurred. As the dust settles, the real lesson may be less about faulty escalators or teleprompters, and more about the power—and peril—of words uttered in the glare of the spotlight.
Sometimes, the biggest stories are not about what actually happened, but about how we talk about what happened—and the consequences those conversations can have, both at home and abroad.
