The Claim

Authorized the production of affordable and efficient “tiny cars,” reversing burdensome regulations that prevented their manufacturing.

The Claim, Unpacked

What is literally being asserted?

Three things: (1) the president authorized production of a class of small vehicles (“tiny cars”), (2) this action reversed regulations that previously prevented their manufacturing, and (3) the result is affordable and efficient vehicles now available to American consumers. The word “authorized” implies a completed executive action with legal force.

What is being implied but not asserted?

That specific regulations existed which banned the manufacturing of small cars in America. That the president removed those regulations through executive action. That affordable small cars are now or will imminently be available for purchase. That this represents a consumer-friendly deregulatory achievement. The framing evokes Japanese-style kei cars — ultracompact vehicles costing $8,000-$15,000 in Asia — coming to American roads.

What is conspicuously absent?

The fact that no regulations were actually reversed. No executive order, NHTSA rulemaking, or FMVSS modification was published. The Transportation Department itself confirmed to NPR that “safety standards are not being waived for small cars.” It is not and never was illegal to build small cars in the United States — the barrier is that new vehicles must comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, and kei-class vehicles as currently designed cannot meet American crash safety requirements. “Authorizing” Secretary Duffy to “approve production” has no legal meaning in the regulatory framework governing vehicle safety. Also absent: the safety dimension. IIHS data shows minicars already have the highest driver death rates of any vehicle category — 108 per million registered vehicle years for 4-door minicars versus 25 for SUVs overall. Also absent: the market reality that small cars consistently fail in America. Mercedes discontinued the Smart Fortwo in 2019 after selling just 1,276 units that year. Toyota discontinued the Scion iQ after four years. The sub-compact market represents less than 1% of U.S. vehicle sales and is shrinking.

Evidence Assessment

Established Facts

No federal vehicle safety regulation was changed, reversed, or modified regarding small or “tiny” cars. As of March 2026, NHTSA has published no rulemaking, proposed rule, or regulatory amendment specific to kei-class or microcar vehicles. The Federal Register contains no entry modifying FMVSS standards to accommodate smaller vehicles. NHTSA’s January 2026 “Request for Comment on Vestigial Vehicle Safety Regulations” (Docket NHTSA-2026-0133) is a general deregulatory inquiry under EO 14192, not a kei-car-specific action, and the comment period does not close until March 24, 2026. The DOT confirmed to NPR that safety standards were not being waived. ¹

It is not and never was illegal to manufacture small cars in the United States. There is no regulation banning the production of small vehicles. What exists is a set of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) — crash safety, occupant protection, lighting, braking — that all new vehicles sold in America must meet. Kei-class vehicles designed for Japan (maximum 3.4 meters long, 1.48 meters wide, engines capped at 660cc) do not meet these standards in their current form. The barrier is compliance cost, not prohibition. Any manufacturer that builds a kei-sized car meeting FMVSS requirements can sell it legally. ²

Trump’s “authorization” consisted of verbal statements and a Truth Social post, not an executive order or regulatory action. On December 3, 2025, during the “Freedom Means Affordable Cars” press conference announcing the CAFE standards rollback, Trump told reporters he had “authorized the secretary [of transportation] to immediately approve the production of those cars.” On December 5, he posted on Truth Social: “I have just approved TINY CARS to be built in America. Manufacturers have long wanted to do this, just like they are so successfully built in other countries… START BUILDING THEM NOW!” No formal directive, executive order, or regulatory filing accompanied these statements. ³

Trump’s interest in kei cars originated from his October 2025 Asia trip, not from a policy analysis. Trump visited Japan on October 28, 2025, as part of an Asia tour that included Malaysia and South Korea. He subsequently described kei cars to reporters as “very small,” “really cute,” and similar to “the Beetle used to be with the Volkswagen.” His own Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy publicly questioned whether kei cars would function on American freeways. ⁴

Minicars have the highest driver death rates of any vehicle category in the United States. IIHS data for 2017 model year vehicles shows minicars with 108 driver deaths per million registered vehicle years (4-door models), compared to 62 for small cars, 43 for midsize cars, and 25 for SUVs overall. The Ford Fiesta (a minicar) recorded 141 deaths per million. Kei cars, which are smaller and lighter than any minicar sold in America, would face even greater mass disadvantage in a vehicle fleet dominated by SUVs and trucks. ⁵

The U.S. small car market is shrinking, not growing, and has a consistent record of commercial failure. Mercedes-Benz discontinued Smart Fortwo sales in the U.S. and Canada after the 2019 model year, citing “a declining micro-car market” and “high homologation costs for a low volume model” — selling just 1,276 units in 2018. Toyota discontinued the Scion iQ after four years. The sub-compact segment represents less than 1% of U.S. new vehicle sales. Edmunds analyst Jessica Caldwell noted: “that segment is less than 1% of the market” and “it’s shrinking, not growing.” ⁶

Strong Inferences

The claim directly contradicts the administration’s simultaneous CAFE rollback, which incentivizes larger, less efficient vehicles. On the same day Trump announced “tiny cars” (December 3, 2025), he announced the SAFE Vehicles Rule III, rolling back CAFE fuel economy targets from 50.4 mpg to 34.5 mpg by MY2031. Since 2008, CAFE has used a footprint-based system where smaller vehicles face stricter MPG requirements. The CAFE rollback reduces the efficiency penalty for large vehicles, making it even less economically rational for manufacturers to build small ones. The two announcements are structurally contradictory — one says “build tiny cars” while the other says “keep building big ones with no efficiency penalty.” ⁷

No automaker has announced plans to build kei-class vehicles in the United States. Despite Trump’s exhortation to “START BUILDING THEM NOW!” no manufacturer — domestic or foreign — has announced plans to develop, build, or sell kei-class vehicles in the U.S. market. Motor1 analysis noted that development timelines for new vehicle categories span approximately 14 years, requiring “substantial investment and planning” that companies won’t undertake based on “temporary political statements.” Manufacturers would need to invest billions in new tooling and comply with FMVSS standards, making the economics of a sub-$15,000 vehicle nonviable with American labor costs. ⁸

The existing regulatory pathway for limited-volume vehicles already permits small-scale production without presidential intervention. Under 49 CFR Part 555, manufacturers can seek temporary FMVSS exemptions for up to 2,500 vehicles annually. NHTSA could also initiate rulemaking modifying FMVSS application to kei-class vehicles, as it has for low-speed vehicles under 49 CFR 571. Neither pathway requires presidential “authorization” — they are standard regulatory processes available to any manufacturer at any time. ⁹

What the Evidence Shows

The claim describes something that did not happen. No regulation was reversed. No production was authorized. No executive order was signed. The president made verbal statements and a Truth Social post expressing enthusiasm for Japanese kei cars he saw during an October 2025 trip to Asia, then described this enthusiasm as a completed policy action.

The underlying premise — that “burdensome regulations” prevent manufacturing small cars — fundamentally mischaracterizes the regulatory landscape. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards do not ban small cars. They require all new vehicles to meet crash safety, occupant protection, and equipment standards. Kei cars designed for Japan do not meet these standards because they were designed for a different regulatory regime, not because American regulators have singled out small cars for prohibition. Any manufacturer is free to build a kei-sized vehicle that passes FMVSS crash tests. The barrier is engineering cost, not legal prohibition.

The safety dimension makes the “burdensome regulations” framing especially problematic. The regulations being characterized as burdensome are crash safety standards. IIHS data shows that minicars — which are still larger than Japanese kei cars — already have driver death rates four times higher than SUVs. In an American vehicle fleet where the average new vehicle weighs over 4,000 pounds, putting substantially lighter vehicles on the same roads without meeting crash safety standards would have predictable and measurable consequences in human lives.

The market dimension is equally revealing. Americans have repeatedly rejected small cars. Smart, Scion iQ, and other microcars failed commercially despite being available and affordable. The sub-compact segment is under 1% of the market and shrinking. No automaker has expressed interest in building kei-class vehicles for the American market. Meanwhile, the administration simultaneously rolled back the fuel economy standards that were the only regulatory pressure pushing manufacturers toward smaller, more efficient vehicles.

The Bottom Line

The factual core of this claim is false. No regulation was reversed. No production was “authorized” in any legally meaningful sense. The president expressed personal enthusiasm for Japanese kei cars on Truth Social and at a press conference, and the White House listed this as a policy accomplishment. The Transportation Department itself confirmed that safety standards were not waived. As of March 2026 — nearly four months after the announcement — no NHTSA rulemaking, no FMVSS modification, and no manufacturer announcement has followed. The “burdensome regulations” being referenced are Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards — crash safety requirements that exist because minicars already have the highest death rates of any vehicle category. It is not illegal to build small cars in America; it is illegal to sell new vehicles that fail crash tests. Calling occupant protection standards “burdensome” while claiming credit for a policy change that never happened is both misleading and, given the safety stakes, irresponsible.

Footnotes

1. NPR, “Trump wants the U.S. to build tiny cars. Will they take off?” (2025-12-22); NHTSA, “Request for Comment on Vestigial Vehicle Safety Regulations,” 91 FR (2026-01-23), Docket NHTSA-2026-0133; Covington & Burling, “Kei Trucks and U.S. Regulation: Opportunities and Obstacles Ahead” (2025-12). ↩

2. 49 USC 30112 (requirement to comply with FMVSS); 49 CFR 567 (certification requirements); Covington & Burling analysis; The Autopian, “President Trump Said He Just Legalized Cheaper, Smaller ‘Cute’ Kei Cars In America” (2025-12). ↩

3. DOT, “President Trump & Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy Unveil New ‘Freedom Means Affordable Cars’ Initiative” (2025-12-03); Trump Truth Social post (2025-12-05); Spectrum News, “Trump: Tiny cars will be built in the U.S.” (2025-12-05). ↩

4. CSIS, “Previewing President Trump’s Asia Visit” (2025-10); PBS, “In next stop on Asia trip, Trump will meet Japan’s new prime minister” (2025-10-27); Bloomberg, Trump remarks on kei cars (2025-12-03). ↩

5. IIHS, “Driver death rates remain high among small cars” (2023); IIHS, “Fatality Facts 2023: Passenger vehicle occupants.” ↩

6. The Drive, “Smart Cars Are Officially Dead in the United States and Canada” (2019-04-29); CNBC, “Daimler will stop selling its electric Smart cars in US, Canada” (2019-04-29); NPR (2025-12-22), quoting Edmunds analyst Jessica Caldwell. ↩

7. DOT, “Freedom Means Affordable Cars” (2025-12-03); SAFE Vehicles Rule III NPRM, Federal Register (2025-12-05); Electrek analysis (2025-12-04). ↩

8. Motor1, “Trump’s Kei Car Solution Only Creates More Expensive Problems” (2025-12); Jalopnik, “Automakers Aren’t Going To Build Kei Cars In The U.S., No Matter What King Trump Commands” (2025-12); NPR (2025-12-22). ↩

9. 49 CFR Part 555 (temporary exemptions); 49 CFR 571 (low-speed vehicle standards); Covington & Burling analysis (2025-12). ↩