- Elon Musk on Wednesday said the US Postal Service should be privatized.
- At a conference, he said the government "should try to privatize everything we possibly can."
- In comparison, Denmark's post office is winding down letter delivery, citing falling demand.
Elon Musk wants to privatize the United States Postal Service.
Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom conference on Wednesday, Musk said the government "should try to privatize everything we possibly can," including the USPS, according to audio reviewed by Business Insider.
Musk acknowledged that privatizing it would probably require congressional approval.
Yet, while Musk envisions a private US postal system, another country is taking a different approach — shutting down its traditional letter-delivery service altogether.
Denmark phasing out letter delivery
Denmark's state-run postal service, PostNord, announced in a recent update that it would stop delivering letters in the country at the end of this year and would focus on parcel deliveries.
It said the volume of letters handled in Denmark plummeted by 90% from 2000 to 2024.
As e-commerce booms, the company said it would be prioritizing the "growing need" for faster and more reliable parcel deliveries.
"Danes have become more and more digital, and what was once sent by letter is now received digitally by the vast majority of people," it added.
On its website, PostNord said its history of letter delivery could be traced back to 1624. The company, which also operates in Sweden and says its letter delivery there will continue, said it would start to remove its 1,500 post boxes in Denmark in June.
In a separate statement Thursday, PostNord said it would cut about 1,500 jobs this year, reducing its workforce by nearly a third.
Denmark isn't alone — Germany's Deutsche Post on Thursday said it would eliminate 8,000 jobs in 2025, calling the move a "socially responsible" reaction to declining mail volumes.
USPS privatization
While some European countries are moving away from traditional letter delivery, President Donald Trump, like Musk, has floated the idea of privatizing the USPS.
In December, Trump said privatizing it was "not the worst idea I've ever heard," and in February he said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick "will be looking" into it.
The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The USPS has already undergone significant restructuring in recent years.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told the House oversight committee in December that the Postal Service had reduced its overall head count by about 20,000 employees and cut 45 million total work hours since he took office in June 2020.
Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at tspirlet@businessinsider.com or Signal at Thibault_Spirlet.49. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.
March 10, 2025: This story was updated with more context about PostNord's plans. It says it will stop delivering letters in Denmark at the end of this year but will continue doing so in Sweden.