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White House clarifies Trump’s comments on Australia’s healthcare system

Mr Turnbull described his first meeting with the US President as very positive. Photo: Getty.

Mr Turnbull described his first meeting with the US President as very positive. Photo: Getty.

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.

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 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”.

White House clarifies comments

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.

“The President was complimenting a foreign leader on the operations of their healthcare system. It didn’t mean anything more than that,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at a news briefing.

“I think he believes that they have a good healthcare system for Australia. What works in Australia may not work in the United States,” she said.

Mr Trump also tweeted on Saturday that “everybody” had better health care than the US, but the system would “soon be great”.

Independent scorekeepers at the Congressional Budget Office have not yet analysed the bill passed on Thursday.

But they estimated an earlier version would have led to 24 million fewer Americans with insurance coverage than under current law.

Turnbull hails ‘history and strength’ of alliance

Mr Turnbull described his meeting with Mr Trump — the pair’s first meeting since a testy phone call over a refugee deal struck by the Turnbull Government and the Obama administration — as very positive.

He said North Korea, the Islamic State group and global trade were all discussed.

“We talked about the relationship, the alliance — we talked about its history and its strength,” Mr Turnbull said.

White House officials said the US-Australia refugee deal still stood, but remained a “raw nerve” for Mr Trump.

The pair also attended a gala dinner commemorating the 75th anniversary of the battle of the Coral Sea, while white house and prime ministerial staff also met separately.

Mr Trump said he would “absolutely” visit Australia as President, with a possible window in November when a series of leadership summits are scheduled in the region, but no dates have been set.

—ABC

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