After 22-year-old Army Cpl. Dillon Baldridge was killed in Afghanistan, Donald Trump called his father, Chris Baldridge and made an offer to send him $25,000. The conversation happened nearly five months ago and Baldridge said he was initially stunned by the offer:
"'I'm going to write you a check out of my personal account for $25,000,' and I was just floored," Baldridge told the Post of his conversation with Trump. "I could not believe he was saying that, and I wish I had it recorded because the man did say this. He said, 'No other president has ever done something like this,' but he said, 'I'm going to do it. "
Nearly five months later, the check still had not arrived, although a letter from Trump’s office did show up in the mail.
Baldridge said that after the president made his $25,000 offer, he joked with Trump that he would bail him out if he got arrested for helping. The White House has done nothing else other than send a condolence letter from Trump, the father said.
“I opened it up and read it, and I was hoping to see a check in there, to be honest,” the father said. “I know it was kind of far-fetched thinking. But I was like, ‘Damn, no check.’ Just a letter saying ‘I’m sorry.’ ”
On the day the Washington Post began asking questions about the promised payment, the check was quite suddenly “in the mail.” They claimed red tape prevented them from sending it sooner, but as soon as the Washington Post was on the story, that red tape vanished. Weird, right?
Even as he offered the money, he proclaimed his greatness, noting that he was the only president to ever do such a thing. He either does not know or is once again flat-out lying. In 2011, it was revealed President Obama was known to quietly write personal checks to struggling Americans:
On more than one occasion, the president has cut personal checks to struggling Americans who’ve written to the White House, according to an excerpt from a new book by Washington Post reporter Eli Saslow about the ten letters the president reads every day.
“It’s not something I should advertise, but it has happened,” the president told Saslow.
Another day, another lie, another page in this dark chapter of American history.