President Trump Offered $25K To Fallen Soldier's Father — Who Never Received It: Report

WASHINGTON, DC — Chris Baldridge, father of the slain soldier Dillon Baldridge, was still grieving his son and struggling financially when President Trump offered him $25,000, according to a Wednesday report from the Washington Post. Trump offered the cash as a personal gift when he called the father to offer his condolences as commander in chief — but the money never arrived, Baldridge told the paper.

The story came as the president is facing blowback over divisive and false comments he made about his predecessors' contact with the families of soldiers killed in the line of duty. On Monday, Trump said that President Obama and other presidents didn't make the calls to the families, despite ample public record showing their outreach to these relatives by phone, written letters and in-person visits.

Trump told Fox News Radio Tuesday that he calls every family who loses a loved one in the military. But reporting from The Washington Post and the Associated Press found this not to be true. In addition to speaking to Baldrige, to whom Trump offered the $25,000 without following through, the Post found at least four families who hadn't received a call from the president and were upset about it. The AP found relatives of two fallen soldiers who had not received a call or a letter.

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Read the full report at The Washington Post>>

"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," White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters told Patch in a statement. "The fact is, the President promised an unsolicited donation during a private call with the father of an American hero and that donation has been made."

Baldrige told The Washington Post he had already received a condolence letter from the White House and expected it to contain a check. It didn't.

WATCH: White House: $25,000 Check To Father Of Fallen Soldier Is In The Mail

Trump has previously waited until the press began asking about promised charitable donations before following through. For example, Trump waited four months before donating a promised $1 million that he pledged at a fundraiser in January 2016 for veterans, even after his campaign manager falsely told reporters the money had been given away, according to the Washington Post.

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Photo by Ron Sachs-Pool/Getty Images