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Donald Trump.
- Trump attacked the NHS in a dispute over healthcare with US Democrats.
- He appears to have written the message after a segment on Fox News.
- The remark is likely to anger people in the UK, where passionate support of the NHS is widespread.
US President Donald Trump has attacked Britain's National Health Service (NHS), which he described as "going broke and not working" in a pugnacious early-morning tweet.
Trump used difficulties in the health service, which is in the grip of a periodic winter crisis, to make a point in a long-running battle with the US Democratic Party, which supports healthcare reform which began under President Obama.
It is not clear what information Trump was basing his assessment of the NHS on. He thanked the hosts of Fox News's morning "Fox and Friends" show immediately after the first tweet.
The show had run a segment on the NHS that morning, featuring an interview with UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, who campaigned for Trump during the 2016 election campaign.
Protest marches about NHS funding are indeed common in the UK, but their demands are almost exclusively that the government increase funding for universal healthcare rather than try a different system.
His intervention is likely to further strain relations with politicians in the UK.
Support for the NHS is an article of faith among all political parties, and politicians compete to be seen to be supporting the universal health system the most passionately.
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!
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 5, 2018Donald Trump is tweeting about the NHS. Fox News one hour ago: pic.twitter.com/sjLZU9EXSr
- Ned Simons (@nedsimons) February 5, 2018