If there’s one thing people expect from President Trump’s speeches, it’s that the 79-year-old often veers off script midway through his remarks.
On Thursday (February 19), during the first meeting of the Board of Peace, the president addressed dozens of officials who had traveled to Washington, D.C., from around the world.
As he greeted attendees, Trump singled out Paraguay’s president, Santiago Peña Palacios, offering an unexpected compliment.
“He’s a young, handsome guy. It’s always nice to be young and handsome. Doesn’t mean we have to like you,” Trump said.
In a remark that drew raised eyebrows, he continued: “I don’t like young, handsome men. Women, I like. Men, I don’t have any interest.”
The speech took another detour when Trump brought up a viral moment at the United Nations headquarters in New York, when an escalator suddenly stopped as he and First Lady Melania Trump stepped onto it.
At the time, neither Trump nor his team appeared amused. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called for the incident to be “investigated immediately.”
Now, however, the president seemed more lighthearted about it.
Speaking about the Board of Peace’s cooperation with the UN, Trump said he has generally had a positive relationship with the organization — except for what he jokingly referred to as “escalator-gate” in September.
“I’ve had a good relationship [with the UN] other than when, at my last speech, they turned off my teleprompter. I got up there, and my teleprompter didn’t work,” he said.
He then added, “First I had an escalator that stopped. You know it’s going up — boom. It’s lucky that my movie star first lady was in front of me because I put my hand on a certain part of her body and was able to stop my fall.”
Continuing in a similarly playful tone, Trump said Melania was “right in the proper location for me.”
He also mentioned Melania’s documentary, titled Melania. Although critics were not impressed, the film reportedly holds a 98 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
While Trump’s team initially suggested the escalator may have been deliberately stopped, the United Nations later stated that it halted due to a safety mechanism, possibly triggered by a videographer positioned behind the president and first lady at the time, according to BBC News.
