After delay, Trump fulfils his promise to the father of a fallen US soldier

US President Donald Trump. Photo / AP

The father of a fallen US soldier has received the US$25,000 that President Donald Trump promised him three months ago.

It perhaps ends one of the controversies since Trump falsely claimed last week to have spoken with nearly every military family who has lost a loved since he became commander in chief.

Trump made out the cheque to Chris Baldridge, whose 22-year-old son Dillon, an Army sergeant, was killed in Afghanistan in June. It was issued from the President's personal account, according to a photo of the cheque posted online by a reporter with ABC-11 TV in North Carolina.

The checque is dated October 18. The Washington Post approached the White House about Trump's US$25,000 pledge earlier that day.

As the Post reported last week, Trump called Baldridge in July, a few weeks after his son's death, and offered his condolences. Baldridge expressed frustration that his ex-wife was to receive a US$100,000 death gratuity from the Pentagon and he was to receive nothing. Trump then offered to cut him a US$25,000 cheque.

"He said, 'I'm going to write you a cheque out of my personal account for US$25,000,' and I was just floored," Baldridge told the Post. "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.' "

Baldridge acknowledged then that it was "far-fetched" of him to think the money would indeed materialise. The Post asked the White House about it that morning, and White House officials said hours later that the cheque had been sent.

"It's disgusting that the media is taking something that should be recognised as a generous and sincere gesture, made privately by the President, and using it to advance the media's biased agenda," spokesperson Lindsay Walters said at the time.

It was sent with a letter from Trump in which he appeared to blame legal proceedings for the delay.

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

"I am glad my legal counsel has been able to finally approve this contribution to you," said the letter, also published by ABC-11. "I hope this will make things a bit easier, but nothing will replace your son, Dillon. He was an American hero."

Walters suggested today that it was a coincidence that the cheque happened to be sent the day the Post asked about the promise that the President made.

"There is a substantial process that can involve multiple agencies anytime the President interacts with the public, especially when transmitting personal funds," she said.

"The cheque was in the pipeline since the President's initial call with the father. The President personally followed up several times to ensure that the cheque was being sent."

It took 18 months for President Barack Obama to fulfill a similar promise made to the family of Kayla Mueller, who was killed in 2015 while she was held captive by Isis in Syria. Obama's undisclosed sum, for a charity set up in Mueller's name, arrived only after a report by ABC News called attention to what the President later described as an oversight.