A note left behind on an iPhone has revealed a partial motive for why Matthew Livelsberger blew himself and a Cybertruck up in front of Donald Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas this week.
The 37-year-old Green Beret, who the FBI says suffered from post traumatic stress disorder, had “no animosity” for Trump and wrote that the explosion was “not a terrorist attack.”
However, Livelsberger did make clear that he was displeased with the state of the country.
Matthew Livelsberger’s profile photo on LinkedIn. / LinkedIn
“This was not a terrorist attack, it was a wake up call,” he wrote. “Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence. What better way to get my point across than a stunt with fireworks and explosives?”
His point, apparently, was that the United States, the “best country people (sic) to ever exist,” are “terminally ill” and are headed for “collapse.”
“Fellow Service members, Veterans, and all Americans, TIME TO WAKE UP!” Livelsberger wrote. “We are being led by weak and feckless leadership who only serve to enrich themselves.”
Flames rise from a Tesla Cybertruck after it exploded outside the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas, in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., January 1, 2025. / Alcides Antunes via REUTERS
The explosion’s timing and symbolics led some to speculate that he chose a Cybertruck—Elon Musk’s crown jewel of a vehicle—and blew it up in front of a Trump hotel because he opposed the president-elect and his new top ally.
Livelsberger’s note paints a different—and perhaps muddier—picture, however.
“Why did I personally do it now?” he wrote. “I needed to cleanse my mind of the brothers I’ve lost and relieve myself of the burden of the lives I took.”
Livelsberger was the explosion’s only fatality, but seven bystanders were injured in the New Year’s Day blast.
A law enforcement source told the Daily Beast on Thursday that Livelsberger’s family told investigators he was a “big” Trump fan who voted for him in November. Another report by The Independent corroborated that, with his uncle saying his nephew “loved Trump” and “a very, very patriotic soldier, a patriotic American.”
More details about Livelsberger emerged later Thursday, including a report that said his second wife had left him just days before he took his own life.
Police’s update on Friday afternoon included a rash of new photos of Livelsberger, including his partially burnt passport and screengrabs of him at charging sites between his hometown of Colorado Springs and Las Vegas.
Matthew Livelsberger while charging his rented Cybertruck. / Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
Livelsberger inserted a handgun into his mouth and pulled the trigger just before the Cybertruck he was renting exploded. The FBI said Friday that the vehicle was never put in a self-driving mode, seemingly putting to bed conspiracies that Livelsberger had been set up and killed prior to his arrival at the Trump International Hotel.
A LinkedIn profile for Livelsberger showed he served in the military for 19 years, including a stint in Afghanistan. More recently, he was based in Germany but had been back stateside on approve leave.
An ex-girlfriend of Livelsberger told The Washington Post he suffered a traumatic brain injury while deployed overseas that left him suffering from “a cloudy memory, poor concentration, difficulty maintaining relationships, and intense guilt over his actions on the battlefield.”
