Billionaire Elon Musk has a war of words with the US Secretary of State
Oct 24, 2025
Washington [US], October 24: Billionaire Elon Musk has sparked a new controversy on social media, criticizing US Transportation Secretary and acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy.
Reuters reported on October 22 that Mr. Musk had made a series of sarcastic posts about Mr. Duffy on social media, related to the management of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA ), in the context that Mr. Duffy had invited a number of companies to compete with Mr. Musk's SpaceX Company for the moon program.
Mr Musk called Mr Duffy "Sean Dummy", said he had a "double-digit IQ" and shared several mocking images aimed at Mr Duffy.
"Should someone whose greatest achievement is climbing trees run the US space program?" Elon Musk wrote on October 21. Before entering politics, Mr. Duffy was a speed tree climber and world champion in this sport. US media also said that Mr. Duffy is looking to bring NASA under the management of the US Department of Transportation.
On October 20, Mr. Duffy told CNBC that SpaceX was behind schedule on its $2.9 billion project to build a lunar lander to carry astronauts.
For this reason, Duffy said NASA will invite other companies to bid for the contract, which was awarded to SpaceX from 2021. "I will open the bidding. I will let other space companies compete with SpaceX," he said.
Mr Musk responded, declaring SpaceX to be "the only company in America" that has succeeded in building a spacecraft capable of putting humans into orbit. The billionaire stressed that the Starship spacecraft "will take over the entire fate of the moon".
Despite calling SpaceX "a remarkable achievement," Mr. Duffy asserted that billionaire Musk's company is "behind schedule." Meanwhile, NASA's Artemis III moon landing mission is currently scheduled to launch in mid-2027 at the earliest.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
