"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.
"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.
