Trump is way off about Amazon and the post office

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 29 March 2018

President Trump is entering his sixth day in a row without any appearances in public, but he took some time out of his morning Thursday to sound off about his "concerns with Amazon." Central to the president's ire (aside from the fact that Amazon is owned by Jeff Bezos, who also owns the "failing" Washington Post) is that Amazon uses "our Postal System as their Delivery Boy (causing tremendous loss to the U.S.)." As Axios reported Thursday, this is not actually true.

Last year, Trump aired a similar complaint on Twitter: "Why is the United States Post Office, which is losing many billions of dollars a year, while charging Amazon and others so little to deliver their packages, making Amazon richer and the Post Office dumber and poorer?" he wondered. Vox dug into the question and found that while the USPS is "bleeding money," its parcel service is actually one arm that is "doing okay."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

While the Post Office likely does cut deals with Amazon, Vox adds in conclusion that "Amazon doesn't need the USPS. The same isn't necessarily true for the USPS." Quartz's own analysis found "Amazon and the broader e-commerce sector aren't what's ailing the USPS. They just might be keeping it afloat." Axios notes that some post offices in America have even added Sunday delivery because "Amazon made it worthwhile."

Explore More

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox