Elon Musk gave a huge blow to Joe Biden by proposing to bring these change to two 100-year-old beloved federal institutions – ‘Time to give it back to…’

Elon Musk is set to deliver a huge blow to ‘Amtrak Joe’ Biden as he takes aim at privatizing his beloved Amtrak.

The ‘First Buddy’ suggested privatization for both Amtrak and the United States Postal Service, confirming that America’s mail service was next on the Trump administration’s chopping block.

Biden became notorious for his love of riding the rails and would regularly travel home to Delaware from Washington when he was in the Senate.

As president, Biden championed improving America’s rail service, announcing $16billion in improvements just last year.

Musk, who is advising Trump on plans to radically shrink the U.S. government said Wednesday that the U.S. Postal Service and passenger railroad Amtrak should be privatized.

‘I think logically we should privatize anything that can reasonably be privatized,’ Musk said at a Morgan Stanley conference.

‘I think we should privatize the Post Office and Amtrak for example… We should privatize everything we possibly can.’

He said he thought those actions would require congressional approval. Amtrak, a government-owned company created in 1970, and USPS, also government owned, did not immediately comment.

+4
View gallery

Elon Musk is set to deliver a huge blow to ‘Amtrak Joe’ Biden as he takes aim at privatizing his beloved Amtrak

+4
View gallery

Biden became notorious for his love of riding the rails and would regularly travel home to Delaware from Washington when he was in the Senate. As president, Biden championed improving America’s rail service, announcing $16billion in improvements just last year

Last month, Trump said he was considering merging the Postal Service with the U.S. Commerce Department, a move Democrats said would violate federal law.

The Postal Service has lost more than $100billion since 2007, including $9.5billion in the 12 months ending September 30.

Earlier this month, however, it reported a fourth-quarter profit of $144million. As email boomed, the agency has been hurt by an 80% decline in first-class mail volume since 1997. Volumes are now at the lowest level since 1968.

Amtrak said in December ridership topped 2019 pre-COVID levels for the first time in 2024 and reached a record high.

The agency’s ridership increased 15% over 2023 to a record 32.8 million customer trips, while Amtrak reported an adjusted operating loss of $705 million for the 12 months ending September 30, down 9% over 2023.

Musk said that in comparison with Chinese high-speed rail, Amtrak ‘is a sad situation… It will leave you with a very bad impression of America.’

Amtrak in March said it was boosting passenger services on the East Coast as it aims to double ridership nationwide by 2040 to 66 million passengers.

Congress approved $66billion for rail projects as part of a massive infrastructure bill in 2021, with $22billion dedicated to Amtrak over five years on top of regular funding.

+4
View gallery

Then VP candidate Biden arrives by train into the Amtrak station in Wilmington that now bears his name in this 2008 file photograph

+4
View gallery

Last month, Trump said he was considering merging the Postal Service with the U.S. Commerce Department, a move Democrats said would violate federal law

Amtrak’s future funding is uncertain. President Donald Trump during his first term repeatedly sought to cut funding to Amtrak, which received about $2.4 billion in annual federal support last year.

Trump’s administration has already placed holds on U.S. government grants to states and local communities as part of its drive to significantly reduce federal spending, including on railways.

A $2.3 billion project adding two railroad tracks to the two that have long been in existence, linking Virginia to Washington, D.C. Passenger and freight trains feed into routes up and down the East Coast and through the state of Virginia.

The bridge carries up to 1.3 million Amtrak passengers and 4.5 million Virginia Railway Express commuters operates at 98% capacity during peak hours.

It’s a stark contrast to Biden, who said in 2024 that he has traveled more than a million miles on Amtrak and his local station now bears his name.

‘Amtrak wasn’t just a way to get home to family,’ Mr Biden said during a speech in Baltimore.

‘The conductors, the engineers – they literally became my family.’