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 President Donald Trump ordered the creation of a task force to review business practices at the United States Postal Service, a move that could affect one of the president’s favorite corporate targets: Amazon.com Inc. 
 
 “The USPS is on an unsustainable financial path and must be restructured to prevent a taxpayer-funded bailout,” the president said in an order that was released Thursday night. The Postal Service has lost more than $65 billion over the past decade as Americans increasingly transmit messages online, according to the executive order. Amazon bulk-delivers packages to a USPS distribution center, and the Postal Service brings it to your door. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg 
 
 In a series of Twitter messages, Trump has accused Amazon of draining the Postal Service of money it can’t afford to lose. Trump’s sustained attacks on one of the world’s largest companies have hurt Amazon’s stock price and raised questions about government interference in the private sector. While we don’t know the deal USPS crafted with Amazon, we know it’s not losing money. Trump has claimed that Amazon was “costing the United States Post Office massive amounts of money for being their Delivery Boy,” a situation that puts “many thousands of retailers out of business.” He repeated a claim that the postal service loses “$1.50 on average for each package it delivers for Amazon” and said “only fools, or worse” believe the Postal Service makes money from doing business with Amazon. While we know that Amazon is the biggest e-commerce player, we don’t know exactly how much of the $7 billion comes from Amazon, because the details of the postal service’s deals with private shippers are considered proprietary and not made public. “Amazon is going to have to pay much more money to the Post Office, there’s no doubt about that.” 
 
 The executive order requires the commission to examine “the expansion and pricing of the package delivery market and the USPS’s role in competitive markets.” 
 
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 It’s not clear what effect the task force would ultimately have, since most changes to the Postal Service’s business structure would require new legislation.
– President Trump has railed against Amazon repeatedly in recent weeks, accusing Jeff Bezos' company of getting a sweetheart deal from the Postal Service on delivery. On Thursday night, the president took what could be his first tangible step toward changing that: He issued an executive order calling for a review of the agency's finances, reports Bloomberg. The order, which does not mention Amazon, notes the USPS has lost more than $65 billion over the last decade. "The USPS is on an unsustainable financial path and must be restructured to prevent a taxpayer-funded bailout," the order reads. An analysis at Politifact disputes Trump's previous assertions that the delivery deal with Amazon, whose terms are confidential, is costing the USPS money. ("I am right about Amazon costing the United States Post Office massive amounts of money for being their Delivery Boy," Trump wrote on April 3.) Instead, it chalks up most of the agency's red ink to a 2006 law requiring USPS to prefund the health benefits of retirees. (One other way Trump could change policy at USPS: Start filling numerous vacancies on its board of governors.)