Trump’s $25,000 check to Gold Star father arrives days after promise was revealed

Trump promised Chris Baldridge — whose son, Army Cpl. Dillon Baldridge was killed in June in Afghanistan — $25,000 because he was hurting for money and wouldn’t receive anything from the government after his son’s death. The promise was made in a call Trump made to Chris Baldridge in June.

However, Baldridge told the Washington Post he never received the check and only received a condolence letter from the White House.

A reporter in Raleigh-Durham, N.C., tweeted a photo of the check Monday evening. A letter from Trump blamed the delay on his lawyers.

“I am glad my legal counsel has been able to finally approve this contribution to you,” Trump wrote to Baldridge. “Enclosed is a check for $25,000 — I hope this will make things a bit easier, but nothing will ever replace your son, Dillon. He was an American hero.”

The check is dated for Oct. 18, the day the story broke that he had promised Baldridge a check but had not yet delivered.

Trump has been embroiled in controversy over the last week after first claiming to call all families who have lost a son or daughter in combat during his time in office, a claim that was discovered to be false.

The claim came after Trump was asked about his silence concerning the ambush on American troops in Niger, in which four servicemembers were killed.

Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., later publicly revealed the details of one of Trump’s calls with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, in which Trump reportedly told Myeshia Johnson her husband “knew what he signed up for.”

While Trump repeatedly said Wilson’s claims were false, Myeshia Johnson told ABC Monday Wilson’s account was true and Trump struggled to remember her husband’s name on the call.