Elon Musk has lauded the Tesla Cybertruck for containing a violent explosion outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on January 1, 2025, despite the deadly incident. The explosion, which resulted in the death of the driver and injured seven others, occurred just outside the hotel. The FBI is currently investigating whether the blast was an act of terrorism, though they have not reached a conclusion.
Witnesses at the scene, both inside and outside the hotel, shared videos showing the Cybertruck erupting into flames. The vehicle was parked outside the Trump International Hotel when it exploded. The explosion came just hours after a separate tragedy in New Orleans, where a man drove a truck into a crowd of New Year’s Day revelers, killing 15 people. The New Orleans suspect, 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was a US citizen from Texas and a former soldier who had served in Afghanistan. He was shot dead by police after ramming into the crowd.
While the Trump International Hotel is part of the Trump Organization, led by President-elect Donald Trump, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been a prominent supporter of Trump during the 2024 campaign and is an adviser to the incoming administration.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill addressed the media, stating, “Obviously a Cybertruck, the Trump hotel – there’s lots of questions that we have to answer.” Later, FBI special agent Jeremy Schwartz acknowledged the ongoing investigation, clarifying that it was too early to confirm whether the explosion was linked to terrorism. “That is our goal, and that’s what we’re trying to do,” Schwartz said, adding that the driver had been identified but was not ready to be publicly named.
Musk responded to the explosion by emphasizing that it was not caused by the vehicle itself. “We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself,” Musk stated in a post on X (formerly Twitter). He also reassured followers by noting, “All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion.”
The blast killed the driver inside the 2024 Cybertruck, and seven others sustained minor injuries. According to McMahill, the vehicle used in the Las Vegas incident, like the one involved in the New Orleans attack, was rented through car-sharing service Turo. A Turo spokesperson confirmed that they had no prior knowledge of criminal backgrounds for either renter involved and were cooperating with law enforcement.
In the aftermath, Musk took to Twitter again to praise the Cybertruck’s design, saying, “Evil knuckleheads picked the wrong vehicle for a terrorist attack. Cybertruck actually contained the explosion and directed the blast upwards. Not even the glass doors of the lobby were broken.”
The explosion occurred at 8:40 a.m. local time, and Las Vegas firefighters responded promptly, extinguishing the fire within minutes. Two of the injured were transported to nearby hospitals, while the hotel was evacuated for safety, with guests relocated to a nearby hotel. Eric Trump, the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, also addressed the incident on X, confirming that a fire had occurred at the hotel’s entrance area.
The FBI is continuing its investigation into the circumstances surrounding the explosion, as the city remains on high alert following the earlier attack in New Orleans.
