It was New Year’s Day 2025. While most of the world was nursing a hangover or making resolutions they'd break by Tuesday, a silver Tesla Cybertruck pulled into the porte-cochère of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.
Seconds later? Chaos.
The truck didn't just break down. It didn't just catch fire. It erupted in a violent sequence of explosions that sent firework mortars screaming into the sky and thick black smoke billowing across the Strip. Inside that steel frame sat Matthew Alan Livelsberger, a 37-year-old active-duty Army Green Beret. By the time the smoke cleared, he was dead—not from the blast, but from a self-inflicted gunshot wound delivered just moments before the first spark.
For months, the internet has been obsessed with the trump tower bomber manifesto (even though, technically, it was the Trump Hotel in Vegas, people still search for the "Tower" incident). People want to know why a highly decorated Special Forces soldier—a guy with five Bronze Stars—would turn a rented EV into a rolling bomb.
Honestly, the details found in his manifesto are weirder than any conspiracy theory you've seen on Reddit.
The Secret World of Matthew Livelsberger
Livelsberger wasn't some random kid in a basement. He was a Master Sergeant. He’d seen the worst of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. But when the FBI finally cracked his phone and started reading the digital breadcrumbs he left behind, they didn't just find a suicide note.
They found a 6-page manifesto that reads like a mix of a whistleblower report and a sci-fi thriller.
He didn't hate Donald Trump. In fact, his writings suggested the opposite. He seemed to view the hotel and the Cybertruck—two massive symbols of the Trump-Musk era—as the ultimate stage for what he called a "wake-up call." He wasn't trying to kill people; he was trying to get them to look up.
Basically, he thought we were all being lied to about things way bigger than tax rates or border walls.
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What was actually in the manifesto?
If you're looking for a simple political motive, you won't find it. The manifesto was a "constellation of grievances," as one investigator put it.
- Gravitic Propulsion Systems: This is the part that makes your head spin. Livelsberger claimed the U.S. and China are already using "silent, undetectable aircraft" that defy gravity. He linked this to the drone sightings that spooked the East Coast back in 2024.
- War Crimes: He alleged he had direct knowledge of covert operations where hundreds of civilians were killed in Afghanistan’s Nimruz province. He claimed the DOD and CIA covered it up.
- National Decline: He ranted about "feckless leadership" and DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs, calling the country a "collapsing empire."
- The "Cleanse": He wrote about needing to "cleanse" his mind of the "brothers he’d lost" and the lives he’d taken during his service.
It’s heavy stuff.
Why the Cybertruck?
You've probably wondered why he chose that specific vehicle. It wasn't an accident. In his Signal messages to friends, he called the Cybertruck "the s***."
Authorities think he chose the truck because its stainless steel exoskeleton would act like a pressure cooker, making the blast more "spectacular." He packed the bed with 60 pounds of explosives—racing fuel, firework mortars, and camping gas.
But here’s the kicker: it didn't work the way he planned.
The Cybertruck was actually too tough. The steel sides absorbed a huge portion of the blast force, which is probably why the seven bystanders nearby only walked away with minor injuries instead of being killed. It’s a strange irony. The very "strength" of the vehicle he admired ended up muffling his "statement."
The Mental Health Crisis Nobody Saw Coming
Look, we have to talk about the PTSD.
Livelsberger was struggling. Hard.
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His ex-girlfriend told reporters that he changed after a 2019 deployment where he suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI). TBIs are the invisible killers of the Special Forces community. They change your personality. They make you paranoid.
On the surface, he was a hero. In reality? His second marriage was falling apart. He was allegedly dealing with depression. He spent his final days listening to rap music and sending "playful" videos to friends while driving toward a destination he knew he’d never leave.
It’s a classic case of the "high-functioning" crisis. He could still plan a complex tactical operation, but he couldn't find a reason to keep living.
Was it Terrorism?
The FBI notably didn't use the "T-word" for a long time. They called it a "premeditated vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) attack."
Why the hesitation?
Usually, terrorism requires a specific political goal. Livelsberger’s manifesto was so scattered—ranging from "anti-woke" rants to "gravity-defying drones"—that it didn't fit the neat boxes the government likes to use.
The AI Connection
This part is kinda scary for the tech nerds out there.
Investigators found that Livelsberger used ChatGPT to help plan the logistics of the attack. Now, obviously, the AI didn't tell him "how to build a bomb"—it has guardrails for that. But he used it to map out routes, calculate fuel needs, and organize his thoughts.
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It highlights a massive gap in our security. We can monitor keywords on Google, but tracking how someone uses an LLM to "structure" a tragedy? That’s almost impossible right now.
What Most People Get Wrong
People hear "Trump Tower Bomber" and they immediately think it was an assassination attempt or a protest against the President.
It wasn't.
Livelsberger actually praised Trump in his writings. He told people to "unite around Trump, Elon Musk, and RFK Jr." He chose the hotel because it was a "spectacle" that would ensure the media couldn't look away.
He wanted his claims about "gravitic propulsion" and "war crimes" to hit the front page. He thought the only way to get Americans to "wake up" was to blow something up in front of a golden door.
Actionable Insights and Next Steps
The trump tower bomber manifesto isn't just a piece of true crime trivia. It's a warning about the intersection of elite military training, untreated TBI, and the rabbit holes of online fringe theories.
If you want to dig deeper into the facts of this case, here is what you should actually look for:
- Read the After-Action Report: The Las Vegas Metro Police released a 78-page report in November 2025. It’s dense, but it’s the only place you’ll get the full forensic breakdown of the IED.
- Support Veteran Mental Health: The "Blast Overpressure" issue in the military is real. If you know a veteran struggling with "invisible" symptoms, look into organizations like The Headstrong Project or Home Base. They specialize in TBIs and Special Forces-specific trauma.
- Verify Your Sources: Be careful with the "leaked" versions of the manifesto on social media. Many have been edited or "spiced up" with fake AI-generated text. Stick to the excerpts released by the FBI or reported by reputable outlets like Military.com or the AP.
The tragedy of Matthew Livelsberger is that he was a man who spent his life protecting a country he eventually became convinced was a lie. Whether his claims about secret tech had any merit or were the product of a broken mind, the result remains the same: a smoke-filled morning in Vegas and a story that still doesn't feel quite finished.