President Trump has repeatedly pressured the U.S. Postmaster General to double the shipping rates for Amazon, an obvious attempt to punish the company he loathes because its owner, Jeff Bezos, also owns the Washington Post. This news was first reported in the Washington Post.
Megan Brennan, who has served as U.S. Postmaster General since 2014, has rebuffed Trump several times, the Post reports. Brennan, a 32-year USPS veteran who began her career as a mail carrier, has told Trump him that she cannot unilaterally make the change.
She’s also tried to show Trump that the Postal Service benefits from its relationship with Amazon, which uses the service for the “last mile” of its deliveries. That means the company delivers packages to the Post Office closest to a customer’s house and a mail carrier completes the delivery. Package delivery is a lucrative and growing portion of business for USPS, which is losing money because people send far fewer letters than they used to. Still, Trump refuses to believe that Amazon is not hurting the service.
Trump, who is reportedly “obsessed” with Amazon, appears hell-bent on finding any way to punish the company. The Post reports that he’s met with at least three groups of senior advisers to dig into whether the online giant is bilking the Post Office or not paying enough taxes. The attempt to have Amazon’s shipping rates increased is the most concrete measure Trump has tried to take.
