A deadly explosion involving a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday morning, January 1st, has led authorities to investigate the incident as a potential act of terrorism.
The blast, which occurred around 8:40 a.m. local time, killed one person inside the vehicle and injured seven others nearby. The explosion left firework mortars and camp fuel canisters in the back of the truck, raising questions about how the blast was ignited. Officials have not yet confirmed the exact cause of the explosion but stated that it was intentional.
Authorities identified the person who rented the vehicle as Matthew Livelsberger, an Army veteran from Colorado. The truck had arrived in Las Vegas around 7:30 a.m. and had been driving up and down the Strip before parking in front of the hotel, where it exploded just moments later.
Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill confirmed that no devices were found in the truck that would have been used to trigger the explosion, and the FBI is investigating whether the blast could be connected to a similar incident earlier that day in New Orleans. Both vehicles were rented through the peer-to-peer car-sharing app, Turo.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is cooperating with authorities, confirmed on X (formerly Twitter) that the explosion was caused by fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the truck, not by the vehicle itself. Musk emphasized that vehicle telemetry was normal at the time of the blast.
While the explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas is being treated as an isolated incident, the FBI continues to explore any potential links between the two truck attacks. “We don’t believe there’s any other danger to the community right now,” said FBI Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Jeremy Schwartz. “We will continue to do our best to research as much as we can and get to the bottom of this, and we won’t stop until we’re 100% certain as to what happened and why.“
As a precaution, security around Trump properties, including Trump Tower in New York City, has been increased.
The Trump Organization expressed gratitude to local law enforcement for their swift response, saying in a statement that the safety of guests and staff remains their top priority.
