Donald Trump and Elon Musk Disagree on Flying Cars as the Future of Transportation
Former President Donald Trump has declared his vision for America to lead the air mobility revolution with flying cars. However, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk already rejected the idea back in 2017, claiming that it is a “dumb idea” for city travel.
The video, entitled “Quantum Leap in the American Standard of Living,” shared by Trump on Truth Social, shows his intention to launch a contest to charter up to 10 new “freedom cities” on undeveloped federal land.
The former president promised that these freedom cities would reopen the frontier, reignite American imagination and provide opportunities for people, especially young people and hardworking families, to own homes and achieve the American dream.
Trump also mentioned transportation as another big opportunity and cited dozens of major companies in the United States and China racing to develop vertical takeoff and landing vehicles for families and individuals.
However, the vehicles are not expected to become widely available anytime soon.
Why Musk Thinks Flying Cars are a Dumb Idea
Musk thinks flying cars would not become a scalable solution, especially for city travel, due to safety and noise problems.
He said that fender-benders up in the air could send down debris that could hurt people, and flying cars would need to generate significant downward force to keep from falling, which would mean plenty of wind and noise.
Moreover, he noted that if somebody does not maintain their flying car, it could drop a hubcap and guillotine them, causing anxiety levels to increase.
Musk’s Focus on Underground Transportation
While Trump focuses on air mobility, Musk focuses more on underground solutions to transportation as the founder of The Boring Company.
The company has already built a tunnel system below Las Vegas that currently services different sections of the convention center, with other stops planned.
Final Thoughts
As two prominent figures in technology and innovation, Trump and Musk have different visions for the future of transportation. While Trump sees flying cars as an opportunity to lead the air mobility revolution and build new freedom cities, Musk believes underground solutions are a better alternative.
It remains to be seen which vision will ultimately prevail, but it is clear that both have the potential to revolutionize the way we travel.
