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Culture > News

Three Months Later, Father of Fallen Soldier Received The $25,000 Check Trump Promised Him

President Trump fulfilled his promise to send a $25,000 check to the family of fallen solider, Dillon Baldridge, according to The Washington Post. The check came over 3 months after Trump called Chris Baldridge, Dillon’s father, and offered the money. The timing, however, is a little bit suspicious. 

The news that Trump had finally sent the check came the same day that The Washington Post first revealed that he hadn’t followed through on the offer. The Post stated that the White House wouldn’t even discuss the events in detail at first. 

Lindsay Walters, White House spokeswoman, told CNN that “it’s disgusting that the media is taking something that should be recognized as a generous and sincere gesture, made privately by the President, and using it to advance the media’s biased agenda.” 

In Trump’s letter to Chris Baldridge, the President says that his legal counsel was to blame for the wait. “There is a substantial process that can involve multiple agencies anytime the President interacts with the public, especially when transmitting personal funds,” according to a White House spokesperson. They went on to express that the timing of the Washington Post’s report was coincidental. 

The spokesperson went on to say that, “the President has personally followed up several times to ensure that the check was being sent” and it has been in the works ever since the initial phone call. 

A picture of the check shared by a reporter from ABC-11 in North Carolina confirmed that the check came from Trump’s personal account.

Baldridge has yet to comment on receiving the check, but said in the past that he was “floored” by the President’s offer.

This all coincides with the aftermath of Trump’s alleged comments about Sgt. La David Johnson and his subsequent social media attacks aimed at Johnson’s widow.

According to Frederica Wilson, Democratic representative for Florida’s 24th District, President Trump told Johnson’s widow that the fallen sergeant “knew what he signed up for, but I guess it still hurt.”

To learn more about Katie or get in touch with her, please visit katiemaloneportfolio.wordpress.com/. 
Katherine (or Katie) is the News Editor and resident witch at Her Campus. She first fell in love with journalism while attending SUNY New Paltz ('14). Since then, she has worked on the staffs at MTV News and Bustle writing about politics, intersectional social issues and more before serving as staff researcher at Lady Parts Justice League. Her work has been published in Women's Health, the Daily Dot, Public Radio International (PRI) and WNYC and she's been a regular panelist on a few podcasts (mostly screaming about repro rights.)  She is a Libra with a Taurus moon and a Scorpio ascendant, which either means nothing or everything. She loves strong diner coffee, reading tarot for strangers at the bar and watching the same three horror movie documentaries. She lives in the Hudson Valley with too many animals.