Matthew Livelsberger, the 37-year-old active duty special forces member assigned to U.S. Army Special Operations Command and named as the suspect in the New Year’s Day Cybertruck bombing outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, is believed to have held strong pro-Ukraine sympathies and even recruited foreign mercenaries to fight for the country in its war against Russia. This has led Las Vegas law enforcement officials to speculate that Livelsberger’s attack was politically motivated.
“This is a Tesla truck, and we know that Elon Musk is working with President-elect Trump, and it’s the Trump Tower,” Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said on Wednesday. He added: “There’s obviously things to be concerned about, and it’s something we continue to look at.”
PRO-UKRAINE, ANTI-TRUMP.
A post on a LinkedIn account allegedly belonging to Livelsberger shows him acknowledging to another individual that he was sending recruits their way for an operation in Ukraine that paid $550 a day with lodging and travel provided. An alleged 2016 photo of Livelsberger—who served 19 years as a Green Beret—surfaced on social media showing him wearing a black t-shirt with red lettered print reading “Slava Ukraini.” The phrase translates to “Glory to Ukraine” in English. The photo appears to have been posted to a Facebook page belonging to his wife, Sarah Livelsberger.
🚨 NEW: The Trump Cybertruck Bomber Matt Livelsberger was trying to recruit fighters for Ukraine, per his social media posts
WOW.
This comes after a photo of him surfaced wearing a “Glory to Ukraine”
It’s also worth noting that Ryan Routh, who tried to take out Trump at his… pic.twitter.com/bOm2ClulbX
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 2, 2025
Additionally, Mrs. Livelsberger’s alleged social media shows she holds far-left views—making numerous posts between 2015 and 2016 espousing extremist rhetoric against President Donald J. Trump. In a 2015 post, she wrote that following Trump’s social media made her want to kill someone.
Similarly, would-be presidential assassin Ryan Routh recruited mercenaries to serve in Ukraine. Routh is alleged to have visited Fort Bragg—where Livelsberger was once stationed—over 100 times. It is unknown if the two men knew each other.