President Trump said Monday he did not ask Postmaster General Louis Dejoy, a major donor, to slow down the mail and that he wants the United States Postal Service to both run faster and make more money.
Mr. Trump said he “asked everybody to speed up the mail, not slow down the mail.”
“We want to make sure that the post office runs properly, and it hasn’t run properly for many years,” Mr. Trump said as he departed the White House.
His chief of staff, Mark Meadows, later told reporters that reported problems with withdrawn drop-off boxes and processing machinery predated Mr. DeJoy.
“I know the post office really well. It’s not an issue of money. They’ve got over $10 billion cash on hand, they’ve got another line of credit,” he said. “The postmaster general has said he is willing to pay overtime. A lot of the headlines are not indicative of what’s actually taking place at the post office.”
Mr. Meadows said the president would be willing to sign a relief bill that funds direct stimulus payments to Americans and the post office, as House Democrats get set for votes on Saturday.
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He said Democrats’ request for $915 billion in relief for states and localities is unjustifiable and the main sticking point. The White House is offering $150 billion.
Mr. Trump, meanwhile, said any changes Mr. DeJoy does usher in are designed to “make the postal office great again.” He reiterated his belief the post office loses money on Amazon packages and should raise its prices.
Democrats and others say it makes little sense to revamp the post office amid a pandemic. Seniors and others rely on the mail for their prescriptions, and some voters will want to cast mail-in ballots instead of going to polling sites they feel are unsafe.
Democrats have called for urgent hearings and possible votes on measures to reverse what they believe is intentional sabotage of the Postal Service ahead of the election, as many states move to let their people vote by mail instead of in person. There have been widespread reports of slowdowns and facilities losing mail-sorting machines.
The president reiterated his belief that absentee ballots are fine but a “universal” system of mail-in ballots is vulnerable to fraud.
“I want to make sure the election is not stolen,” he said.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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