How Can Trump Get Revenge on Jeff Bezos & Win 2020? Kill the Post Office
Donald Trump would love to deal a blow to Jeff Bezos. | Source: Drew Angerer/Getty Images/AFP, REUTERS/Tom Brenner, image edited by CCN.com
- The U.S. Postal Service appears to be on its last leg.
- Donald Trump has shunned the USPS when they’ve looked for help.
- If the USPS dissolves, Trump will get revenge on Jeff Bezos, reward some of his friends, and increase his chances of winning the 2020 election.
It’s no secret that Donald Trump and Jeff Bezos do not like each other. These two powerful men with two massive egos have been at odds for years. Unfortunately, a 250-year-old American institution is caught in the middle: the U.S. Postal Service.
Trump can strike a blow to his enemy and increase his odds of a 2020 election win if the Post Office crumbles. Here’s how.
The U.S. Postal Service Is In Dire Straits
The USPS has been crying out for help for decades, but they’ve never been so coldly rejected as they have been during the Trump era.
The U.S. Postal Service, which does not run on tax dollars but postage revenue, is expected to see up to a 50% decline in mail volume for Q2 of 2020 due to the coronavirus.
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., explains why this is a problem:
With volume goes revenue. The postal service is really barely keeping its head above water. It’s technically insolvent.
And yet, when Congress offered the Post Office a lifeline, Trump slapped it out of their hands.
He threatened to veto the $2 trillion CARE Act if any of the money was sent to the U.S. Postal Service, according to the Washington Post.
Why would Donald Trump be so keen on letting the Post Office crumble?
Trump Has a lot to Gain if the Post Office Dies
A dead U.S. Postal Service could increase Trump’s chances of winning the 2020 election. With social distancing measures set to continue until we find a vaccine, voting booths will be a risky place come November.
There’s now a strong push for a vote-by-mail election. You can’t vote by mail if there’s no postal service.
And which voters will be more likely to go out during a global pandemic? Probably the ones voting for the guy who called the coronavirus a hoax. Trump has downplayed the virus at every turn, and we now see why. He’s convinced his base that the virus is not a threat, and they believe him.
If that weren’t enough, Trump could also benefit financially if the USPS dissolves. Mark Dimondstein, leader of the American Postal Workers Union, told In These Times that one motivation for the White House is greed.
Dimondstein explains:
(In 2018) The White House openly called for an opportunity to sell off the Post Office to private corporations. Their agenda is to enrich a few of their private-sector friends at the expense of the people of our country.
Trump appears to have some friends who could swoop in if the USPS dissolves.
If getting richer, gaining more control, and winning the 2020 election weren’t motivation enough, Trump could also get vengeance on one of his enemies.
Trump Wants to Weaponize the USPS Against Jeff Bezos & Amazon
Jeff Bezos and Trump have been at each other’s throats for years, and the Post Office is caught in the middle. After Amazon lost the $10 billion JEDI contract with the Pentagon for cloud computing, Jeff Bezos appealed, claiming Trump wanted revenge.
According to NBC News, Bezos claimed Trump had an agenda against him because he owns The Washington Post. And WaPo has not been kind to President Trump. This enraged Trump to point of taking personal jabs at Jeff Bezos on Twitter.
During Trump’s spars with Jeff Bezos, he has repeatedly encouraged the Post Office to raise their prices on Amazon.
What’s the best way for Trump to get the Post Office to raise their prices? By ensuring one of his friends privately owns the company, of course.
If the USPS Goes Private, We All Lose
Let’s not forget that the U.S. Postal Service is far and away the cheapest way to send packages. Most other delivery services charge double, or triple, the amount of the USPS.
There’s also the possibility that someone like Jeff Bezos could actually acquire the USPS if it craters, increasing his monopoly in the process.
On top of that, the dissolution of the U.S. Postal Service could lead to four years more of a Trump presidency. What could be worse than that?
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of CCN.com.
