Donald Trump says America is a ‘disaster’, blames Democrats for the New Orleans terror attack that killed 15

An 18-year-old student nurse, a former Princeton footballer, and two young parents have been identified as four of the 15 victims of the New Orleans rampage.

At least 15 people have died after Shamsud-Din Jabbar sped through Bourbon Street in the city’s French Quarter at about 3.15am on Wednesday (local time), dozens more were injured in the terrorist attack.

Officials have yet to confirm the identify of any of the victims, but family members of at least four of the 15 killed have spoken to local media.

Local media identified nursing student Nikyra Cheyenne Dedeaux, 18; father-of-two Reggie Hunter, 37; ex-football player Tiger Bech, 27; and 28-year-old mum Nicole Perez.

​​Read their family’s tributes.​​

Patrick Gorman, the assistant minister to the Prime Minister, said Australia’s terrorism alert level remained at probable for now.

ASIO lifted the threat level in August, when Director-General Mike Burgess said the intelligence agency had assessed there was a greater than 50 per cent chance of an attack or planning for one within the next 12 months.

“We will continue to take advice from US agencies that they investigate what potential links there are to … terrorist organisations when it comes to this attack in New Orleans,” Mr Gorman told Sky News on Thursday.

“I don’t have anything I can share with your viewers now other than that we all have a responsibility to be on the lookout for potential things that don’t seem quite right.

“And of course, we’ll continue to do everything we can do as the Australian Government to keep Australians safe at home.”

People can report suspicious activity to the National Security Hotline on 1800 123 400.

Former First Lady Melania Trump has called for ”peace” after the terrible attack on New Years revellers in New Orleans and Cybertruck explosion at her husband’s hotel in Las Vegas.

Ms Trump, who will return to the White House with her husband, PResident-elect Donald Trump in a matter of weeks, took to social media to share her condolences after the incidents.

“The incidents of violence that have impacted our communities are deeply concerning. The brutality must stop,” Mrs Trump wrote.

“My heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the families who are experiencing such profound grief and loss.

“Let us strive for a future where peace prevails.”

Officials suspect the design of the Cybertruck prevented further damage from the explosion.

Footage taken from the hotel valet after the Cybertruck explosion showed the vehicle still largely in tact and the hotel unscathed by the blast.

Sheriff McMahill said the design of the Cybertruck forced the blast “up, through the truck and out”, and contained the damage largely within it shell.

The footage also showed the “evidence” of explosives stored in the car: gasoline canisters, fuel canisters and “large firework mortars” that fuelled the blast.

The sheriff also confirmed the truck had been rented from Colorado and arrived in Las Vegas around 7.30am (local time). The car was in Vegas for about an hour before pulling into the Trump International Hotel valet.

It was parked for about 15 to 20 seconds before exploding.

Authorities believe the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck was an “isolated incident” and there is no further threat to the community.

In an update, Sheriff of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Kevin McMahill said a “lengthy investigation” had begun into the deadly incident at Trump International Hotel on Wednesday morning (local time).

Sheriff McMahill said authorities were probing all possible avenues, including possible links to the terrorist attack in New Orleans and attacks around the world.

“We are not ruling anything out yet,” he said, but said there was no immediate indication it was linked with a terror group.

“There was no overt ISIS flag that was seen in New Orleans, but again, we are investigating every aspect of this.”

Mr Biden continued, saying he had directed his team to make “every resource” available to federal, state, and local law enforcement to investigate the New Orleans incident and to “make sure there is no remaining threat to the American people”.

He said the city has to begin the “hard work of healing”.

“New Orleans is a place unlike any other place in the world. A city full of charm and joy. So many people around the world love New Orleans because of its history, its culture and, above all, its people,” Mr Biden said.

“So I know while this person committed a terrible assault on the city, the spirit of New Orleans will never, never, never be defeated. It will always shine through. We’ve seen that time and time again throughout its was history and I know we’ll see it again in the days and weeks ahead.”

US President Joe Biden has urged the public not to “jump to conclusions” as investigations continue into the New Orleans terror attack and Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas.

Speaking from Camp David in Maryland, Mr Biden said the authorities are looking for “any connections or associations or co-conspirators” in the New Orleans attack but there was “nothing additional to report at this time”.

“The investigation is continuions to be active and no one should jump to conclusions,” he said.

The President promised his intelligence team - including the Attorney-General, FBI Director, Secretary of Homeland Security - would “work on this intensively until we have full and complete information”.

“Once we have that information I will share that information as soon as we can confirm it.”

Mr Biden also confirmed authorities were investigating whether there were links between the Tesla Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas and the New Orleans rampage.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has pledged support for the United States in the wake of the deadly New Orleans attack.

“All Australians are appalled by the attack in New Orleans, a shocking act of violence aimed at people celebrating the new year together,” he wrote on social media.

“Our first thoughts in this moment are with the victims and thier loved ones. Our nation stands with the people of the United States.”

The Nightly has approached the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to ascertain whether Australians were invovled in the attack.

Tesla owner Elon Musk has outright blamed terrorism for the explosion of one of his company’s Cybertrucks in Las Vegas overnight.

The billionaire took to social media to declare the deadly blast “appears likely to be an act of terrorism”.

“Both this Cybertruck and the F-150 suicide bomb in New Orleans were rented from Turo. Perhaps they are linked in some way,” Musk wrote, referring to the pickup truck used in the New Orleans attack.

After 3am on New Year’s Day, Texas man Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove a white Ford F-150 Lightning through a crowd of revellers on the famed Bourbon Street in New Orleans.

Mr Jabbar, who was shot dead by police after crashing the vehicle on the street after killing more than 10 people, is understood to have rented the vehicle via the peer-to-peer car sharing site Turo.

Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, one person has died and several others were injured when a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside a hotel owned by President-elect Donald Trump.

Authorities are investigating whether the shocking incident was also an act of terror.

CCTV footage showed smoke pouring out of the electric vehicle as it pulled up in the valet area outside the entrance of the Trump International Hotel before it exploded.

One person inside the vehicle was confirmed dead and seven bystanders suffered minor injuries.

The Cybertruck is manufactured by Tesla, the company owned by deep-pocketed Trump ally Elon Musk.

The billionaire and new Trump cabinet member reacted to the explosion on his social media platform, X, writing it was “caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed” of the Cybertruck “and is unreleated to the vehicle itself”.

See footage of the terrifying incident here.