Musk may have changed US government forever. Is that a bad thing? You tell us.
There has been a tsunami of news coverage over the first 100 days of President Donald Trump's time in office. Depending on whom you ask, it's either been an American nightmare of hateful politics or the best thing to happen to the country in modern politics.
USA TODAY Opinion has been covering the 100th day milestone with our usual vigor. Some of you even helped us do it. But while you can expect more of that coverage to roll out this week, we think it's time to give Elon Musk some attention.
He did, after all, take up much of our collective focus these past three months. Whether using DOGE to lay off federal workers, taking the political stage with a literal chainsaw or watching Tesla's stocks plummet, Musk has been very busy trying to help Trump establish and enforce the MAGA vision for America.
Your Turn: Trump is doing an amazing job. America needed an overhaul. | Opinion Forum
And now, it appears Musk's time is winding down as he prepares to refocus on things like Tesla. Early news reports were that Musk would stay away at the 130-day mark at the end of May, but it now appears he might go part-time.
Either way, it seems his role is diminishing. So, today we're asking our readers – that's you – how they feel about Musk.
This might be the last time we ask, so feel free to let your voice be heard. Fill out the form below or email us at forum@usatoday.com with the subject line "Forum Elon Musk." We'll use some of your responses as part of our upcoming Forum roundup.
We'll even get your creative juices flowing. Consider some of these questions:
Do you think Elon Musk has helped the country shrink our federal government?
Do you think everything Elon Musk did on behalf of Trump was all for show?
Are you glad or upset to see Elon Musk step aside from his DOGE work?
How comfortable are you with a private citizen having that much power in our government, regardless of who the president is?
Do you want to take part in our next Forum? Join the conversation by emailing forum@usatoday.com.You can also follow us on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and sign up for our Opinion newsletter to stay updated on future Forum posts.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is Elon Musk stepping down? Should he? Take our poll | Opinion

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Mamdani Shock Gives NYC Mayor Adams a Shot at Making a Comeback
(Bloomberg) -- Andrew Cuomo's loss is Eric Adams' gain. US Renters Face Storm of Rising Costs US State Budget Wounds Intensify From Trump, DOGE Policy Shifts Commuters Are Caught in Johannesburg's Taxi Feuds as Transit Lags Mapping the Architectural History of New York's Chinatown Just days ago, the New York City mayor faced steep reelection odds. His job-approval ratings had plunged to record lows after a federal corruption indictment. Support among Democrats fell even further when the Trump administration dropped the charges, raising questions about Adams' indebtedness to the White House. But Adams, who dropped out of the campaign as a Democrat to run as an independent, is suddenly looking less toxic to a class of moderate voters. The reason: The surprise ascendancy of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old state assemblyman who crushed Cuomo in Tuesday's primary election to become the all-but-certain Democratic nominee. Also read: Wall Street Decries 'Hot Commie Summer' After Mamdani Surprise Now Cuomo's backers — many of them opposed to Mamdani's populist platform of taxing the wealthy and raising corporate levies — are discussing whether to pivot their support to Adams, according to people familiar with the matter. Those same donors are encouraging the former governor, who considered a run as an independent, to drop out of the race entirely to avoid being a spoiler, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing private conversations. On Wednesday, Adams launched a new campaign slogan: 'Delivers. Never Quits.' In the evening, he met with donors, advisers and supporters — including former chief of staff Frank Carone — to plot out his campaign strategy, said people with knowledge of the gathering. 'We have two choices, which is to support Mamdani and try to get on his good side, or try to see if we can resurrect Eric,' said Jeff Gural, chairman emeritus of real estate firm Newmark Group, who donated to Cuomo's PAC. He said he would 'certainly' rather have Adams than Mamdani. Donors to Cuomo's campaign and the PACs that backed him had together raised more than $30 million, with support from billionaires including Bill Ackman, Dan Loeb, Steven Roth and former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP. The longtime member of the Democratic establishment quickly emerged as a front-runner in the crowded primary — a striking development given his 2021 resignation as governor after multiple charges of sexual harassment, which he denies. The Cuomo campaign's ability to raise money in seven-figure checks helped to starve the Adams campaign of donors. The incumbent mayor lost the endorsements of Democratic officials and the labor unions who'd backed him in 2021. Now, Adams' standing has climbed in prediction markets, which see a slightly wider lane for the incumbent to campaign in. 'Eric has actually done a good job especially lately as he's surrounded himself with a superstar police commissioner and his first deputy is also well-regarded,' said Gural. 'Obviously he's made some mistakes but I think he has the city going in the right direction.' Scott Rechler, the head of landlord RXR Acquisition Corp. and a donor to Cuomo's campaign, also said he wants the field to narrow. 'The risk in the general election side is that Adams, Cuomo and a Republican candidate wind up splitting votes, and Mamdani falls into City Hall by default,' Rechler said. 'Hopefully it becomes a field of one.' Cuomo has said he will wait to see the full results of the ranked-choice voting primary before making a decision on his campaign. Adams was invigorated by the primary results, and made a string of media appearances ahead of his official reelection campaign launch. He derided Mamdani as 'a snake oil salesman' who will do anything to get elected. Mamdani already has the backing of Democrats such as US Representative Jerrold Nadler, Kings County Democratic leader Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn and New York Attorney General Letitia James. An adviser to Cuomo's campaign noted that Democrats and labor unions quickly coalesced behind progressive Bill de Blasio when he won the 2013 Democratic mayoral primary against then-City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who had broad support among business leaders and moderate Democrats. Cuomo polled well with older Black and Hispanic outer-borough voters, groups that helped bring Adams to victory in 2021. But that wasn't enough to overcome Mamdani's turnout among younger New Yorkers, who voted in significantly higher numbers than they had in the 2021 primary. Some Republican donors and strategists are now discussing pathways to remove Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa from the party's ballot line in November in order to give the spot to Adams. That maneuver is a tricky one to execute — under New York election law, candidates can only be removed from the ballot if they're disqualified — typically by dying, going to prison, or moving out of the state. Sliwa denied he was looking for an exit. 'The only job I'm focused on is earning your support to be the next Mayor,' he wrote on social media. 'I am running to serve you and move this city forward on January 1, 2026. No one else.' Ackman, one of Mamdani's most vocal Wall Street critics, said on X Wednesday that he hasn't made a decision on who he's now backing. But Adams isn't out of the running: The hedge fund billionaire said he likes the mayor and may ultimately endorse him. --With assistance from Patrick Clark, Natalie Wong and Katia Porzecanski. Inside Gap's Last-Ditch, Tariff-Addled Turnaround Push How to Steal a House Luxury Counterfeiters Keep Outsmarting the Makers of $10,000 Handbags Apple Test-Drives Big-Screen Movie Strategy With F1 Ken Griffin on Trump, Harvard and Why Novice Investors Won't Beat the Pros ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Four candidates remain in Mobile mayoral race after two withdraw and share endorsements
MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — Just one African-American candidate will appear on the ballot for Mayor of Mobile. Lawrence Battiste and Jermaine Burrell withdrew from the race Wednesday and officially endorsed Barbara Drummond. Immigration enforcement in Gulf Shores leads to more than 30 arrests 'This moment we're in calls for unity,' said Burrell, a former Mobile city councilman. Battiste, a former police chief, says polling showed that none of the three black candidates was likely to make a runoff. 'You need to position yourself to be one or two,' Battiste said. 'If you're not one or two, it doesn't matter. Number three is the first loser. So, the goal is how do we come together and give one of us an opportunity to be in the top two?' There are now three white candidates, and one black. The majority of voters in Mobile are African-American. 'I think this gives us a seismic shift to bring the community together,' Drummond said. 'I think that's what it has done for our campaign. What happened wasn't about race, it was about bringing our community together. We have got to build a city that is not built on divisiveness on any level. We need one that is built upon us coming together and that's what this campaign is all about.' Drummond has been a state representative for the last decade and also serves on the board of the Mobile Area Water and Sewer System. According to sources, internal polling had indicated that the three remaining white candidates: former judge Spiro Cheriogotis, County Commissioner Connie Hudson, and former police chief Paul Prine were vying for two spots in a likely runoff. Now, they could be fighting for one. The candidates, however, are downplaying Drummond's stature in the race. 'This is all a part of the political scene,' said Hudson. 'These things happen. But I'm happy how things are moving forward.' 'I think like in any race, it all depends on who turns out to vote,' said Cheriogotis. 'I'm hoping I can turn out 100 percent of my supporters.' Former Alabama defensive end completes almost four marathons in a day The election is August 26. A runoff, if necessary, would take place September 23. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Walgreens (NASDAQ:WBA) Exceeds Q2 Expectations
Pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) reported Q2 CY2025 results topping the market's revenue expectations , with sales up 7.2% year on year to $38.99 billion. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.38 per share was 11.3% above analysts' consensus estimates. Is now the time to buy Walgreens? Find out in our full research report. "On March 6, 2025, WBA entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by entities affiliated with Sycamore Partners. The merger is currently expected to close in the third or fourth quarter of calendar year 2025, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals and other conditions to closing. Upon completion of the transaction, WBA common stock will no longer be listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market, and WBA will become a private company." Revenue: $38.99 billion vs analyst estimates of $36.59 billion (7.2% year-on-year growth, 6.5% beat) Adjusted EPS: $0.38 vs analyst estimates of $0.34 (11.3% beat) Operating Margin: 0.1%, in line with the same quarter last year Free Cash Flow Margin: 0.9%, similar to the same quarter last year Market Capitalization: $9.78 billion Primarily offering prescription medicine, health, and beauty products, Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) is a pharmacy chain formed through the 2014 major merger of American company Walgreens and European company Alliance Boots. A company's long-term sales performance is one signal of its overall quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but the best consistently grow over the long haul. With $154.6 billion in revenue over the past 12 months, Walgreens is a behemoth in the consumer retail sector and benefits from economies of scale, giving it an edge in distribution. This also enables it to gain more leverage on its fixed costs than smaller competitors and the flexibility to offer lower prices. However, its scale is a double-edged sword because it's harder to find incremental growth when you've penetrated most of the market. To expand meaningfully, Walgreens likely needs to tweak its prices or enter new markets. As you can see below, Walgreens grew its sales at a sluggish 3.8% compounded annual growth rate over the last six years (we compare to 2019 to normalize for COVID-19 impacts). This shows it failed to generate demand in any major way and is a rough starting point for our analysis. This quarter, Walgreens reported year-on-year revenue growth of 7.2%, and its $38.99 billion of revenue exceeded Wall Street's estimates by 6.5%. Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to decline by 1.6% over the next 12 months, a deceleration versus the last six years. This projection is underwhelming and indicates its products will see some demand headwinds. Today's young investors likely haven't read the timeless lessons in Gorilla Game: Picking Winners In High Technology because it was written more than 20 years ago when Microsoft and Apple were first establishing their supremacy. But if we apply the same principles, then enterprise software stocks leveraging their own generative AI capabilities may well be the Gorillas of the future. So, in that spirit, we are excited to present our Special Free Report on a profitable, fast-growing enterprise software stock that is already riding the automation wave and looking to catch the generative AI next. Same-store sales is a key performance indicator used to measure organic growth at brick-and-mortar shops for at least a year. Walgreens has been one of the most successful retailers over the last two years thanks to skyrocketing demand within its existing locations. On average, the company has posted exceptional year-on-year same-store sales growth of 6.7%. Note that Walgreens reports its same-store sales intermittently, so some data points are missing in the chart below. We were impressed by how significantly Walgreens blew past analysts' revenue expectations this quarter. We were also happy its EPS outperformed Wall Street's estimates. No guidance was provided due to the impending acquisition of the company. Zooming out, we think this was a solid quarter. The stock remained flat at $11.40 immediately after reporting. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data