President Trump faced some technical difficulties on Tuesday morning while giving a speech at the UN, telling the audience that his teleprompter wasn’t working. He quickly followed that by jokingly threatening the operator of the device.
Trump brought up the problem at the very start of his speech, just after mentioning an issue he had on the escalator. Although he said he didn’t mind speaking without the teleprompter, he warned seconds later that there would be “big trouble” for the person running it.
“I feel very happy to be up here with you nevertheless. And that way you speak more from the heart,” Trump said. “I can only say that whoever is operating this teleprompter is in big trouble.”
The comment, delivered with a smile, drew laughter from the audience. Trump is known for going off-script in his speeches, and this was another example.
From there, the president — using a printed copy of his speech — highlighted what he called strong approval ratings, lower gas and grocery prices, and repeated his criticism of windmills. He also took aim at several countries in the room, claimed he has been “right about everything,” and encouraged nations to dismiss climate change concerns rather than adopt green policies.
Trump also mentioned that years ago he tried to win the contract to renovate the UN building but was rejected.
This isn’t the first time Trump has called out a teleprompter issue during a public event. It happened on the 2016 campaign trail and again in October of last year, when he mocked former vice president Kamala Harris for using one.
In June, Trump also complained about a malfunction, saying, “I pay all this money to teleprompter people, and I’d say 20% of the time, they don’t work.” He then added that he would not pay the company that provided them.
