Donald (Prince of Orange) Trump insisted that the US Postal Service had been gutted by Amazon, a statement that confused many as it appeared to them that the Postal Service was being propped up by Amazon business after the rise of email.

Trump wanted to hike the world’s largest online retailer’s rates and slammed Amazon for treating the Postal Service as its “delivery boy”. USPS lost $65 billion since the global financial crisis of 2007-2009.

Trump had no evidence but ordered a task force in April to study the Postal Service, an independent establishment of the executive branch of the US government, looking at its financial health and what it charges customers such as Amazon for package deliveries.

It was supposed to report back in August, and apparently it has been written but is being sat on by the White House. The thought is that it shows that Trump didn’t know what he was talking about and this might be an embarrassment.

However, the delay has had a knock on effect on other committees which are also looking at the US postal system including the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs to postpone a hearing on postal reform that was planned for 5 September.

Sources told the US press that the hearing was postponed “indefinitely” presumably because the report will never be released.

This means any legislation that raised the Postal Service’s rates on Amazon and other shippers has been kicked further into the future.

The rates the Postal Service charges Amazon and other bulk customers are not made public. Federal regulators that review contracts made by the service have not raised any issues with the terms of its deal with Amazon.