There have been rumblings, which seem to get stronger each week, that President Donald Trump will propose that the U.S. Postal Service be turned over to some private company.
Trump has discussed such a move, according to the Washington Post, with his pick for commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, the co-chair of his presidential transition, and several others among his advisors.
When he was told of the USPS’s annual losses, which totaled $9.5 billion in 2024, Trump said the government should stop subsidizing the publicly owned service that dates back to 1775, the year before the United States declared its independence. Founding Father Benjamin Franklin was the first postmaster.
The report added that cuts to the USPS could upend the $1 trillion e-commerce industry, hitting particularly hard the small businesses and rural consumers who have to rely on the Post Office to deliver and send mail and goods.
