Trump does not think US should copy Australia’s health system, White House says

As Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull flies back to Australia following a meeting with US President Donald Trump, the White House has clarified Mr Trump’s comments calling Australia’s universal healthcare system “better” than the US system.

Key points:

• White House says Mr Trump was simply complimenting ally on healthcare
• Mr Trump tweeted: “Of course the Australians have better healthcare than we do — everybody does”
• Mr Trump says he will “absolutely” visit Australia as President, possible window in November

Mr Turnbull flew out of New York after a breakfast meeting with business leaders, including billionaire Michael Bloomberg, following his 45-minute private meeting with Mr Trump on Thursday.

The Trump-Turnbull meeting

What does the meeting mean for our countries, and what does the US President expect of Australia?

The meeting happened almost three hours late after Mr Trump postponed it to remain in Washington while a bill to overturn much of former president Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law passed the House of Representatives, a move further away from a guarantee of universal coverage.

The US leader raised eyebrows when he told Mr Turnbull shortly after the bill passed that Australia had “better health care than we do”.

But the White House has since clarified those comments, saying the US President was simply saying nice things to an ally and did not think his country should adopt a similar approach.

Source: Donald Trump does not think US should copy Australia’s health system, White House says – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)