Trump’s $25K check to Gold Star family dated same day as Post report

A Gold Star family in North Carolina received a $25,000 check from President Trump dated the same day The Washington Post published a report that they were still waiting for it.

ABC 11 reports that Chris and Jessie Baldridge, whose son was killed in Afghanistan in June, received the check and a letter from Trump on Monday.

“I am glad my legal counsel has been able to finally approve this contribution to you,” Trump wrote. “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.”

{mosads}Trump told the family that he would “write you a check out of my personal account for $25,000,” Chris Baldridge told The Washington Post last week.

Trump promised the family that he would send the check “a few weeks” after Army Sgt. Dillon Baldridge’s death, but the Post reported last week Trump hadn’t followed through.

After receiving the check, Jessie Baldridge told ABC11 she was “speechless.”

“We are so moved and grateful, and we promise to use the money to honor Dillon’s legacy,” Jessie Baldridge said.

The check from Trump is dated Oct. 18, the same day the Post published its initial story on Trump not sending the check. 

EXCLUSIVE: NC #GoldStar family receives $25,000 personal check, months after condolence call from @POTUS @realDonaldTrump. @ABC11_WTVD @ABC pic.twitter.com/eTUxCCgYMY

— Jonah Kaplan (@KaplanABC11) October 23, 2017

White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters told the Post last week that the check “has been sent.”

“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,” she said.

Trump has faced major backlash after Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) said that he told the widow of a soldier killed in Niger that her husband “knew what he was signing up for, but I guess it hurts anyway.”

Trump has repeatedly denied Wilson’s account of the call, and after the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson confirmed Wilson’s description of the call on Monday, Trump fired off a tweet disputing her account.

“I had a very respectful conversation with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation!” Trump tweeted.