Donald Trump, the man with countless iconic photos, recently added another to his roster: standing outside the White House in front of a row of cherry-red Tesla cars and Cybertrucks.
Elon Musk arrived on the South Lawn last week with a selection of electric vehicles in tow. The rendezvous was an entertaining photo op, intended to shine a light on Tesla as an emerging American automotive company. However, backlash against Trump, Musk, and Tesla immediately ensued. Although Democrats have spent years championing and subsidizing the rise of electric vehicles, the cars’ supposed “environmental importance” has been tossed aside. Suddenly, Musk’s EVs have become the targets of vandalism and arson.
Since its initial release in 2023, Musk’s Cybertruck has been widely criticized with the nonpartisan charge of being ugly. Admittedly, the trucks are a sight to behold. Clocking in at just under 19 feet long, the boxy beasts look like they came out of an 8-bit video game. They have a dystopian presence, touting a grey stainless steel exterior that is cut by a single front headlight. They are massive, militaristic, and dauntless.
The Cybertruck looks much more like a tank than a 1955 Ford Thunderbird. Despite this, in 2025, these two cars are actually quite similar. While they are technological opposites, they are each cultural touchstones. Both represent new models meant to bring luxury to the masses. Both were inspired by previous lineages of vehicles, taking cues from pop culture of eras past. Both were proudly American made.
Quintessentially, a ‘25 Cybertruck and a ‘55 Thunderbird are the same. The 70 years between them only prove that Americans crave novelty. They are the products of a unique brand of ingenuity that plays with consumers’ preconceived notions. The two vehicles are shiny and strange; they prompt kids to pull on their parents’ sleeves, point, and yell, “Look!”
The American automotive industry has hit a creative wall. Although cars are safer than ever, they are monotonously designed, colored, and rolled out. Year after year, the models hardly change, making generations and brands virtually indistinguishable from one another. A bland sameness has swept through car companies, leaving innovation as a silly remnant from a more idealistic society. The drive to challenge industry norms has largely been quashed, and indifference has taken its place.
At their core, Americans are frontiersmen. The pioneers trudged westward through mountains, plains, and deserts until their drive toward progress stretched coast-to-coast. They settled the rainy northwest and the hot, muggy Gulf of America. Finally, when so much of the land had been conquered, the ambitious American spirit planted our nation’s flag on the moon. Technology is a frontier, much like the Alaskan wilderness or the depths of the ocean. Technology calls for that same inventiveness that turned a railroad stop into Las Vegas or a trading post into Detroit.
Car companies have become complacent with their expectations. Their desire to create “the vehicle of tomorrow” has been traded for diminutive changes like heated steering wheels or varying paint colors. Midcentury America dreamed of an ambitious and imaginative society. The future was experimental; it was George Jetson and vacations on Mars.
Unfortunately, at some point, this trail-blazing attitude was repressed, stifled by radicals who pretended innovation was nothing more than capitalistic greed. On the contrary, capitalism encouraged batches of fresh, young thinkers to endeavor. It stirred up the flames of ingenuity. Musk’s attitude toward technology is a revitalization of these previously stifled passions. He is attempting the unthinkable by bringing the virtues of the past into the present.
The Cybertruck is an oxymoron. It’s clunky, but it rides smoothly. It’s a car, but it’s a computer. It’s technologically advanced, but it’s designed with childish simplicity. It’s called ugly, but it received over a million reservations upon its initial release. Behind its stoic exterior lies traditional American curiosity.
Setting aside the politics of Trump and Musk, both men emerge as figureheads for American prosperity. The recent image of Trump stepping out of the Tesla is the perfect analogy for our country’s new aspirations. American traditions find modernity knocking at the front door.
When the 1955 Thunderbird was released, the public was enamoured with how comfortable the vehicle was despite its low frame. The car was designed to marry a futuristic, tail-fin style with the quality and comfort consumers had come to expect.
Musk is carrying on this same ethos of perseverance. This new American pioneer drives not a covered wagon but a battery-powered pickup truck.
Brooke Brandtjen is a writer and journalist from Wisconsin who focuses primarily on culture, politics, and religion. She is extremely passionate about the arts and history, and is honored to write for a variety of distinguished publications.
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