Trump admitted last week that he was opposed to additional funding for the Postal Service and subsidies for security, because those provisions would facilitate disrupted voice mail in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Democratic lawmakers have also expressed concern about the efforts of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a Republican-appointed Republican donor, to implement substantial operational changes at the bureau.
The restructuring by DeJoy, Democrats assess, has produced backlogs and service interruptions ahead of the November election, when a record number of Americans are expected to vote by mail.
On Monday, Trump defended DeJoy’s leadership of the Postal Service and criticized the agency as “one of the world’s disasters.”
‘I’m just doing it right. We have a very, very good business man who runs it, and I want to make – I say funny, but it’s true – I want to make the Post Office great again, okay? “Trump told Fox News.
“It’s been done terribly, and we’ll make it right,” he added. ‘Well, what would I do? Let it continue to run badly? So when you fix it, they say, ‘Oh, he’s tampering with the election.’ No, we do not manipulate. ”
Spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Announced Sunday that she will recall House lawmakers from their recession in August to address what Democrats have described as undermining the Trump administration’s administration.
The president has long claimed without proof that post-vote would have negative political consequences for the Republican Party and would result in widespread election fraud.
Indeed, there is no evidence of the kind of widespread fraud that Trump has alleged, and investigations have shown that voting for post-in does not favor one political party over another.
Trump also claimed on Fox News Monday that Pelosi’s move to recall the House in session represented an attempt by speaker and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) to put pressure on the White House in stimulus negotiations.
‘It’s a Nancy Pelosi game with, you know, her friend, Schumer. This is a con game by Pelosi and Schumer, ”he said.
Talks aimed at approving another round of coronavirus relaunch have been stalled for weeks. The House of Representatives’ first proposal for funding, passed in May, provided $ 25 billion to the Postal Service and an additional $ 3.6 billion for election security funding.
Meanwhile, the Postal Service has already sent letters to 46 states and Washington, DC, warned that some votes may not be in time to count for the election.
Despite the president’s remarks Monday, it is not clear whether Trump did in fact instruct the Postal Service to speed up mail delivery, as some of his past guidelines were opposed by his own senior aides.
After Trump told supporters at a campaign rally in June in Tulsa, Okla., That he had instructed the federal government to slow down coronavirus testing, several administration officials tried to refute the comments.
Vice President Mike Pence said it was just a ‘passing observation’, White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro said it was “tongue-in-cheek”, and White House press secretary Kayleigh said it was “in the was joking. ‘
But the president insisted days later that he did not joke when he gave his controversial statement. ‘I do not know. Let me just tell you. Let me make it clear, ”he told reporters.
