Overview

Las Vegas Trump Hotel Cybertruck Explosion refers to a Tesla Cybertruck that suddenly burst into flames and exploded in an incident that occurred outside the lobby of Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel on December 31st, 2024. The explosion was reportedly triggered by explosives and fireworks found in the vehicle's rear. Security footage and videos of the incident quickly garnered virality on social media in early January 2025 with imagery from the event being shared online by people who found the scene ironic considering President-elect Donald Trump's relationship with Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Several internet users drew comparisons between the driver in the Las Vegas explosion and the New Orleans Truck Attack, which both occurred on New Year's Eve 2024, given that both drivers were U.S. Army veterans previously stationed in the same base, as well as how both drivers rented their vehicles from the same app, Turo. The incident, combined with the New Orleans attack, notably led to numerous memes about how 2025 was off to a rough start since both took place around New Year's Day.

Background

News about a Tesla Cybertruck electric vehicle exploding outside Trump International Hotel Las Vegas broke on New Year's Eve 2024. Eyewitnesses described flames shooting out of the rear end of a Cybertruck parked just outside the lobby of the hotel around 9 p.m. local time on December 31st. The explosion left the driver dead and seven others injured. Subsequent news reports indicated that the truck was rented out by 37-year-old Michael Livelsberger from Colorado Springs.^[1]

Redditor /u/Razsah posted surveillance footage showing the Cybertruck explosion to the subreddit /r/CyberStuck^[2] on January 1st, 2025, gathering over 60,000 upvotes in a day.

Also on January 1st, 2025, X^[3] user @kaaaassuu posted a video from the inside of Trump International Hotel Las Vegas, writing, "Cybertruck blew up in front of Trump hotel in Las Vegas. Those are our luggage by the door and that’s where we were when it happened," and gathering over 20,000 likes in a day.

Cybertruck blew up in front of Trump hotel in Las Vegas. Those are our luggage by the door and that’s where we were when it happened. pic.twitter.com/KaVZXfGLNK

— ayackle (@kaaaassuu) January 1, 2025

Developments

More details about the explosion began to appear online on January 1st, 2025, including news that the explosion may have been intentional. On January 1st, Las Vegas Police released footage showing that the rear of the truck contained "gasoline canisters, camp fuel canisters and large firework mortars." X^[4] user @Acyn posted the footage on January 1st, 2025, gathering over 2,000 likes in a day.

Las Vegas Police show images of gasoline canisters, camp fuel canisters, and large fire work mortars in the back of the cybertruck that exploded earlier today pic.twitter.com/LWpkRAKMaB

— Acyn (@Acyn) January 2, 2025

Elon Musk also tweeted^[6] about the police identifying explosives in the vehicle's rear on January 1st, assuring people that the Cybertruck did not spontaneously combust. The tweet gathered over 200,000 likes in a day. In a separate reply to political commentator Ian Miles Cheong later that day,^[8] Musk described the Cybertruck as the "worst possible choice for a car bomb," gathering over 9,000 likes in a day.

Also on January 1st, 2025, Las Vegas Police provided more information about the explosion and the driver of the Tesla Cybertruck, saying that according to information given by Tesla Motors, the car arrived in Las Vegas from Colorado Springs. The officer also thanked Elon Musk for providing tracking information and for being helpful in the investigation.^[5]

Matthew Livelsberger Identified As Suspect

On January 2nd, the X^[11] account @Raw_Reporting made a post about locating Matthew Livelsberger's LinkedIn account, where he is supposedly listed as an "Operations Director and Intelligence Manager with Special Forces experience."

Some internet users drew a connection between Livelsberger and the attacker in the Bourbon Street New Orleans Truck Attack that occurred later that night.

On January 2nd, 2025, X^[14] account @AutismCapital wrote that Livelsberger "previously served at the same military base as the New Orleans terrorist Shamsud Din Jabbar," gathering over 7,000 likes in a day.

More information about Livelsberger was uncovered on January 2nd, including the news that he texted his ex-girlfriend days before the Las Vegas bombing, excited about having rented out a Cybertruck and saying, "I feel like Batman or halo." BNONews's X^[15] post gathered over 700 likes in a day.

The Vegas bomber's family also claimed that Livelsberger was a Trump supporter, expressing confusion about why he would choose to bomb a Trump Hotel. X^[16] user @GuntherEagleman's January 2nd, 2024 post quoted his uncle in saying, "He loved Trump, and he was always a very, very patriotic soldier, a patriotic American. It’s one of the reasons he was in Special Forces for so many years. It wasn’t just one tour of duty." The post gathered over 17,000 likes in a day.

Also on January 2nd, X^[17] user @chiweethedog expressed incredulity at learning that the bomber shot himself in the head before the explosion, and that his ID remained legible despite his body being charred beyond recognition. The post gathered over 2,000 likes in a day.

Several internet users also expressed their skepticism about a Green Beret former Special Forces soldier displaying the incompetency with explosives that Livelsberger did. On January 2nd, X^[18] user @JasonBassler1 suggested that the incident was orchestrated by the FBI.

Online Reactions

As the video and news of the incident rapidly garnered virality across the web, several internet users reposted an image of the Cybertruck on fire with the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas sign clearly visible, heralding the photo as a metaphor for Donald Trump's upcoming presidency, as well as his continued relationship with Elon Musk.

For example, on January 1st, 2025, X^[7] user @uncledoomer gathered over 50,000 likes on a post that read, "this makes the A24 civil war movie’s writing look subtle by comparison."

Also on January 1st, X^[9] user @supersonic16023 posted a video of a Cybertruck exploding in Fortnite with the caption, "NEW: Video shows Tesla Cybertruck explosion at the Trump tower in Tilted Towers. No word yet on the cause," receiving over 636,000 views and 29,000 likes in less than 24 hours.

NEW: Video shows Tesla Cybertruck explosion at the Trump tower in Tilted Towers. No word yet on the cause pic.twitter.com/6P2NWuFjqK

— sarah but❤️🖤💚but FESTIVE⛄️🎄🎁 (@supersonic16023) January 2, 2025

Later on January 1st, 2025, Redditor QuicklyThisWay posted a "Happy New Year" meme using the footage of the explosion to the subreddit /r/HighQualityGifs,^[13] receiving over 4,200 upvotes and 180 comments in 18 hours.

Some internet users attempted to draw a connection between the Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion and the New Orleans Bourbon Street attack, given that both attackers acquired their vehicles using the car rental app Turo and the reports that both U.S. Army veterans were once stationed on the same military base, Fort Bragg.^[12]

Denver7 reporter Tony Kovaleski posted to X,^[10] writing that authorities were investigating any possible link between the two attackers on January 2nd, 2025, gathering over 1,000 likes in a day.

Search Interest

External References