President-Elect Trump Considers Privatizing the US Postal Service

President-elect Donald Trump said recently that he is considering privatizing the US Postal Service, according to several news reports.Speaking on Fox News Monday, Trump confirmed that he is eyeing a plan to sell the public agency that was originally founded in 1792 as the United States Post Office Department.

“There is talk about taking the postal service private…Not the worst idea I’ve ever heard. It really isn’t,” said Trump. You know it’s a lot different today between Amazon, UPS and FedEx and all the different things we didn’t have. But there is talk about that. It’s an idea that a lot of people have liked for a long time. We’re looking at it.

The Washington Post reports that Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has discussed his desire to privatize the Postal Service with Howard Lutnick, his pick for commerce secretary, at Mar-a-Lago. People who will work at the Department of Government Efficiency, led by billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, have also reportedly had preliminary conversations about major changes to USPS, according to the WaPo. It noted that privatizing the Postal Service could disrupt e-commerce companies like Amazon that use the USPS for "last-mile" delivery between the company’s fulfillment centers and customers. Amazon recently announced that it is donating $1 billion to Trump’s inauguration fund.