Fact check: Trevor Milton founded Nikola in 2014 and faked a promotional video of an engineless truck rolling downhill.

Verdict: mostly true — Trust Score 80/100

This post is confirmed by 3 reliable sources including the Associated Press, CBS News, and The Guardian. While the timeline of the fraud, the $3.2 million donation, the March 2025 pardon, and the subsequent bankruptcy are all verified, the claim that Nikola never delivered a working product is false, as the company delivered over 100 hydrogen trucks in 2024.

Platform
instagram
Source author
wealthy.setup — see all fact-checks of this account
Original post
https://www.instagram.com/p/DYCGCyUjYiq/?igsh=MXVhNDFtazlhdmkyag==
Verified on
May 11, 2026
Verification ID
7T9W6sYq0rbpqsrNBpU1YA

Original content reviewed

Platform: INSTAGRAM Author: @wealthy.setup --- Caption/Description --- A man rolled an engineless truck downhill, called it a test drive, and convinced Wall Street it was worth $30 billion. Trevor Milton founded Nikola in 2014, faked a promotional video, and built an empire on tilted cameras and empty promises. Convicted of fraud in 2022. Never served a day. Donated $3.2 million to Trump's campaign - got a full pardon in return. Nikola went bankrupt. Investors lost everything. Milton kept the money. We post one powerful insight daily. Follow @wealthy.setup. --- Carousel/Slides (11 items) --- Slide 1 (image): Text: A MAN ROLLED A TRUCK WITH NO ENGINE DOWNHILL AND CONVINCED WALL STREET IT WAS WORTH $30B. THEN TRUMP ERASED HIS CRIMES. HERE IS THE WHOLE STORY: $ WEALTHY SETUP Slide 2 (image): Text: TREvor Milton founded Nikola in 2014, naming it after the same inventor as Tesla. The pitch was simple and seductive: hydrogen-powered trucks that would make diesel obsolete. He had no trucks and no working technology. Slide 3 (video): Text: IN 2018, HE RELEASED A PROMOTIONAL VIDEO CALLED "NIKOLA ONE IN MOTION." A SLEEK SEMI-TRUCK ACCELERATED SMOOTHLY DOWN AN OPEN HIGHWAY. INVESTORS FLOODED IN. WHAT NOBODY KNEW WAS THAT THE TRUCK HAD NO ENGINE, NO FUEL CELL, AND NO PROPULSION OF ANY KIND. Slide 4 (image): Text: MILTON'S TEAM TOWED IT TO THE TOP OF A HILL, TILTED THE CAMERA TO HIDE THE SLOPE, AND LET GRAVITY DO THE REST. ONE HILL. ONE CAMERA ANGLE. THAT SINGLE TRICK LAID THE FOUNDATION FOR A $30 BILLION VALUATION. Slide 5 (image): Text: FOR THE NEXT FOUR YEARS, HE KEPT ROLL- ING. INVESTORS WERE TOLD NIKOLA COULD PRODUCE ITS OWN HYDROGEN - IT COULD NOT. TRUCKS WERE READY FOR PRODUCTION - THEY WERE NOT. ORDERS WERE FLOODING IN - THEY WEREN'T. EVERY CLAIM WAS A VARIATION OF THE SAME TILTED CAMERA. Slide 6 (image): Text: IN JUNE 2020, NIKOLA WENT PUBLIC. WITHIN DAYS, THE COMPANY WAS WORTH MORE THAN FORD. MILTON'S PERSONAL STAKE HIT $7.3 BILLION OVERNIGHT. A $

Claims analyzed (6)

  1. verified: Trevor Milton founded Nikola in 2014 and faked a promotional video of an engineless truck rolling downhill.
    Court records and the 2020 Hindenburg Research report confirmed Nikola was founded in 2014 and the 'Nikola One in Motion' video was faked using gravity on a hill.
  2. verified: Trevor Milton was convicted of fraud in 2022 and sentenced to four years in prison.
    Milton was convicted in October 2022 of securities and wire fraud and sentenced to 48 months in prison in December 2023.
  3. verified: Trevor Milton and his wife donated $3.2 million to Donald Trump's 2024 campaign.
    FEC records and news reports from 2026 confirm that Milton and his wife donated at least $3.2 million to Trump's 2024 campaign and affiliated political groups.
  4. verified: Trevor Milton received a full pardon from Donald Trump in March 2025.
    President Trump issued a full and unconditional pardon to Trevor Milton on March 27, 2025, which was confirmed by the White House.
  5. verified: Nikola Corporation went bankrupt and investors lost everything.
    Nikola filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on February 19, 2025, and transitioned to a liquidating trust by December 2025, resulting in near-total losses for common shareholders.
  6. false: Nikola never delivered a single working product.
    Nikola delivered over 100 hydrogen fuel cell trucks in the first half of 2024 and had previously delivered battery-electric trucks to customers including Walmart Canada.

Sources consulted (12)

Related verifications

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