Big man driving a little red vintage car towards success . . . Because nothing says success like driving a Microcar

By Patti Johnson - December 10, 2025

Because Nothing Says “America First” Like Driving a Mini . . .

With everything on President Trump’s plate right now, the border, Ukraine vs Russia, getting the economy roaring again, why on earth is he spending political capital pushing for Japan-style “kei” cars and other ultra-tiny vehicles on American roads? He saw them overseas and called them “very small” and “really cute” earlier last week. On Friday Trump said, “They can be propelled by gasoline, electric or hybrid. These cars of the very near future are inexpensive, safe, fuel efficient and quite simply AMAZING!!! START BUILDING THEM NOW! ”

Is there really a big demand for these miniature cars here? Will we ever see Barron driving around in Twingo?! Can you see the good ole boys down south driving a Micro or the cowboys out West in a Mini? Really? Are they anybody’s dream car?

Years ago when my husband and I took trips to Europe we noticed all the tiny cars. Over there, if you can afford a car at all, it’s usually a shoebox on wheels or a motorcycle. It’s not because Europeans love feeling every pothole. It’s the gas prices. Fuel routinely runs $7–$9 a gallon, so people cram into the smallest thing that moves. We always rented something bigger when we traveled, because we’d heard the stories that those little cars fold up like tin cans in a wreck. Which rules out the “safe” portion of Trump’s praise and push for tiny cars.

On one trip, while driving in Italy, we were jet lagged and slap happy and started making fun of all the mini-European cars noting that they were even given wimpy names to boot. In a high-pitched Mickey Mouse voice we said “Look at me, I’m a Mini… I’m a Smart car… I’m a Twingo!” Then we’d drop our voices three octaves into a gravelly bear growl for the American rigs we love back home: “I’m an Expedition… I’m a Yukon… I’m a Excursion… Even the names told you which one was built for real roads and which one was built to fit between two Vespas. We weren’t trying to be ugly Americans, the names just cracked us up at the time because they fit the image. And hey, the Europeans were the haughty ones trying to shame us by mocking our big cars that they claimed were destroying the planet they were trying to save.

Now the same tiny cars are showing up here, not because gas is expensive, but because . . .

[SNIP]