Trump thought the British were protesting their health service. They weren’t.

LONDON — President Trump took a swing at Britain’s beloved National Health Service on Monday, tweeting that Britons were marching in the streets because their universal health-care system was financially strapped and dysfunctional, and got a swift rebuke from the British prime minister.

“The Democrats are pushing for Universal HealthCare while thousands of people are marching in the UK because their U system is going broke and not working. Dems want to greatly raise taxes for really bad and non-personal medical care. No thanks!” he wrote.

But the thousands of Britons who took to the streets over the weekend were marching in support of the NHS and calling for greater government funding.

Trump's tweet about Britain’s universal health-care system — once said to be the closest thing that the British have to a national religion — provoked ire from across the political spectrum, including from British Prime Minister Theresa May.

A spokesman for May said that “the prime minister is proud of our NHS, that is free at the point of delivery.” The spokesman said that funding “is at a record high and was prioritized in the budget with an extra 2.8 billion pounds. In the recent Commonwealth Fund international survey, the NHS was rated the best in the world for a second time.”

Jeremy Hunt, Britain’s health secretary, said he is proud to hail from a country where people have coverage “no matter the size of their bank balance.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/02/05/trump-thought-the-british-were-protesting-against-their-health-service-they-werent/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_nhs-1130am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.00abce72489e