Trump vs. Amazon
Nothing to see here, just the leader of the United States government repeatedly pressing the head of the U.S. Postal Service to double the rate it charges Amazon and other firms, by all accounts in fits of pique over critical coverage he reads in the newspaper owned by Amazon’s CEO.
That’s according to a piece of reporting Friday in — yes — the very same newspaper, The Washington Post, which reveals that three people familiar with the conversations say President Trump has leaned on U.S. Postmaster General Megan Brennan to radically hike the prices the post office charges large firms to ship packages.
Thirty-two-year Postal Service vet Brennan, says the report, has pushed back, explaining that the agreements are bound by contracts and overseen by a regulatory commission.
Not only that: The arrangement between the USPS and the companies, of which Amazon is just one, is among the few rays of light in a dark financial picture for the people who carry your mail.
The Postal Service, which reported a net loss of nearly $3 billion in 2017, brought in nearly $20 billion — almost a third of its annual revenue — via parcels. Deals with private shippers, Amazon included, were responsible for almost a third of that.
Amazon uses the Postal Service for about 40% of its packages; it bulk-delivers them to a USPS distribution center, then the mail carrier takes them the rest of the way. They get a negotiated rate for that limited service, plus the tremendous volume.
None of this is to say that Amazon is paying exactly the right amount. There may well be cause to squeeze more cash out of a massive, highly profitable company.
Nor is Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world, a white knight. He wants to maximize profit and bloody his competitors.
But it is unseemly, to say the least, that a President who is in a never-ending temper tantrum over the solid work done by reporters at the Post is intent to take out his rage by using the Postal Service to punish another company the newspaper’s owner founded and runs.
Nothing surprises anymore. But do try to remember, this is Donald Trump, who promised to “unrig” the American economy, and who serves as the standard-bearer of a political party that spent eight years attacking President Barack Obama for allegedly picking winners and losers.