President Donald Trump offered the father of a soldier who died in Afghanistan $25,000 from his “personal account” during a phone call he had with him, according to a new report.
Trump’s relationship with families of fallen soldiers has been scrutinized in recent days—particularly after he falsely claimed that President Barack Obama did not call family members of soldiers who were killed in action.
During a recent phone call to the widow of Sgt. La David T. Johnson–who was killed along with several others in Niger–Trump allegedly told her that he “knew what he signed up for” and cause her to cry.
However, a different phone call with a North Carolina man whose son died in June went quite differently, according to the Washington Post.
Trump offered Chris Baldridge, father of Army Cpl. Dillon Baldridge, $25,000 from his “personal account” during a 15-minute phone conversation, he told the newspaper. Cpl. Baldridge and two other soldiers were killed by an Afghan police officer in mid-June.
“He said, ‘I’m going to write you a check out of my personal account for $25,000,’ and I was just floored,” Baldridge said. “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.’ “
However, that check never came.
“I opened it up and read it, and I was hoping to see a check in there, to be honest,” he said. “I know it was kind of far-fetched thinking. But I was like, ‘Damn, no check.’ Just a letter saying ‘I’m sorry.’”
The White House told the Post the check had been sent.
Other families the Post spoke with said Trump was “cordial” and “nice” during phone calls. One father who spoke with the newspaper said that when he confessed to Trump that he had voted for him, Trump went off “on another tangent,” extending the call for about 10 minutes.
You can read all of the Post’s story here.