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The billionaire’s swipes at Sean Duffy are the latest example of his tangling with members of the Trump administration.
Oct. 23, 2025, 6:58 p.m. ET
Elon Musk lashed out this week at Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, the latest sign of the billionaire’s willingness to take aim at the administration he once served, particularly when it potentially affects his bottom line.
Over the past few days, Mr. Musk has lobbed insults at Mr. Duffy, who has been serving as the acting administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, accusing him of lacking intelligence, trying to dismantle NASA and putting astronauts in danger of being killed.
The tirade, which he issued in a series of posts on his social media platform, X, was prompted by Mr. Duffy’s announcement on Monday that NASA would reopen the bidding process for its next moon landing mission, Artemis III, the contract for which currently is held by the Musk-owned SpaceX.
“SpaceX, an amazing company, they do remarkable things. But they’re behind schedule,” Mr. Duffy said on Fox News, explaining that President Trump wanted to “beat the Chinese” and make another moon landing before the end of his term in the White House.
“We’re going to have a space race in regard to American companies competing to see who can actually get us back to the moon first,” he added.
In response, Mr. Musk fired off an epithet-laden barrage at Mr. Duffy, including several posts in which he claimed that Mr. Duffy had below-average intelligence. “The person responsible for America’s space program can’t have a 2 digit IQ,” he wrote.
