President Donald Trump continued to beat his anti-Amazon drum early Saturday morning.
In two tweets, he once again accused the Seattle tech titan of exploiting the U.S. Postal Service and called for The Washington Post (which Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos owns) to register as a lobbyist.
While we are on the subject, it is reported that the U.S. Post Office will lose $1.50 on average for each package it delivers for Amazon. That amounts to Billions of Dollars. The Failing N.Y. Times reports that “the size of the company’s lobbying staff has ballooned,” and that…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 31, 2018
…does not include the Fake Washington Post, which is used as a “lobbyist” and should so REGISTER. If the P.O. “increased its parcel rates, Amazon’s shipping costs would rise by $2.6 Billion.” This Post Office scam must stop. Amazon must pay real costs (and taxes) now!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 31, 2018
Although The Washington Post is owned by Amazon’s chief executive, it operates as an independent newspaper. The Post’s critical coverage of Trump has repeatedly made the paper the target of his scorn.
Trump’s claim that Amazon shipping costs the U.S. Postal Service billions has also been widely disputed. Package shipping is actually a rare revenue generator for the otherwise financially struggling USPS. Documents show that package revenue contributed a net total of more than $7.1 billion to the U.S. Postal Service’s bottom line during fiscal year 2017.
The U.S. Postal Service does enter agreements with private companies that handle some of the logistical work required to ship packages. But an independent agency reviews those deals to ensure companies aren’t receiving discounts that exceed the money they save USPS by helping with shipping operations.
The president’s tweets targeting Amazon appear to be the result of a report from Axios earlier this week, which claimed Trump is “obsessed with Amazon” and wants to regulate the company.
