Trump Falls In Love With Japan’s Kei Cars And Wants Them Sold In The U.S.

Japan’s tiny kei cars have always lived in their own adorable universe—buzzing through Tokyo alleys and charming Americans willing to wait 25 years to import one. Now, they’ve caught the attention of someone far less expected: President Trump.

After his Japan trip, Trump was clearly into the whole kei-car thing. He told reporters he couldn’t understand why Americans can’t just buy them new.

“They’re very small, they’re really cute,” he said, wondering aloud how they’d fare in the U.S. market. This all came as he announced plans to undo the tougher fuel-economy standards set under President Biden.

When he learned kei cars fail U.S. crash tests, Trump apparently viewed that less as a kei-car flaw and more as evidence that America’s rules are “too strict.” His solution? Assign Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy the job of finding a path for Toyota, Honda, and others to build kei cars here.

It’s a fun idea, but reality checks come quickly. Kei cars exist because Japan limits their size and engine displacement. They top out at 660 cc, and they’re brilliant in tight cities, not exactly built for the land of interstates and supersized everything.

Then there’s the money problem. Small cars already struggle in the U.S., and kei cars make even less financial sense. Japanese automakers would need new plants, new tooling, and a customer base big enough to justify production—something analysts aren’t convinced exists.

Even so, the idea isn’t totally off the table. Trump’s excitement alone is enough to get people talking. If things somehow come together, we might end up with something truly bizarre: tiny kei cars sitting beside massive pickups on U.S. showroom floors.

Would Americans buy them? Should the rules be changed to allow them? Hard to say, but it would definitely make U.S. roads a lot more interesting.