Brits Are Fiercely Protective of Their Health-Care System. Trump Suggested He Wants It Included in Trade Talks.

Polls have shown that the National Health Service is more cherished than the monarchy or the British army

During a news conference with the British prime minister, President Trump said on June 4th that the United States is committed to a “phenomenal trade deal” with Britain. Photo: David Rose/WPA Pool/Getty Images

By Adam Taylor

President Trump’s news conference in London on Tuesday with British Prime Minister Theresa May was supposed to underline how great a free-trade deal with the United States would be if Britain finally leaves the European Union.

Instead, Trump may have inadvertently played into some of Britons’ worst fears about their post-Brexit future when he suggested that Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) could be a part of a U.S.-Britain trade deal.

“When you’re dealing on trade, everything is on the table — so NHS or anything else, and a lot more than that,” the president said when asked about the position of Britain’s health system in a trade deal. “Everything will be on the table, absolutely.”

Trump’s vague answer to the question may suggest he hadn’t given the idea much thought. However, British news outlets have been keeping an eye on the issue in recent weeks.

May, keenly aware of how sensitive an issue the NHS is in Britain, stepped in quickly…