Donald Trump blames Democrats for lack of postal service funding

US President Donald Trump on Saturday blamed the Democrats for not approving funding to help the US postal service after a warning was issued that the Post Office could not guarantee all ballots cast by mail for the November election would arrive in time to be counted.

The warning letters sent to states raise the possibility that many Americans eligible for mail-in ballots this fall will not have them counted.

But that is not the intent, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said in his own letter to Democratic congressional leaders.

In a briefing on Saturday, Trump said he agreed there had to be more resources for the Post Office but blamed the Democrats for not approving the funds necessary.

"The Democrats aren't approving the proper funding for postal and they're not approving the proper funding for this ridiculous thing that they want to do, which is all mail-in voting," he said.

Though Trump casts his own ballots by mail, he’s repeatedly criticised efforts to allow more people to do so, which he argues without evidence will lead to increased voter fraud that could cost him the election.

Meanwhile, members of Congress from both parties have voiced concerns that curbside mail boxes, which is how many will cast their ballots, have abruptly been removed in some states.

At the same time that the need for timely delivery of the mail is peaking, service has been curtailed amid cost-cutting and efficiency measures ordered by the DeJoy, the new postmaster general, who is a former supply-chain chief executive officer.

He has implemented measures to eliminate overtime pay and hold mail over if distribution centres are running late.

Trump-backed DeJoy claiming he was working to "make the post office great again".