On Oct. 24, 2012, at the height of his “birther” claims that President Obama was born outside the U.S., Donald Trump promised he would donate $5 million to the charity of Obama’s choice if the president turned over personal records about his early life.
On Friday, after years of questioning Obama’s birthplace, Trump finally said that he now agrees Obama was born in this country, and is therefore constitutionally eligible to be president. Which begs the question, for Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold:
When is Trump sending the check?
Here is the tweet Fahrenthold said he sent the Trump campaign Friday:
Sent this to @realDonaldTrump spox, to ask how he will fulfill promise to give $5M if assured Pres. Obama born in US pic.twitter.com/Uc751PeGrl
— David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) September 16, 2016
But should Trump write a check? Maybe not.
For one thing, Obama — as far as we know — never actually turned over the records the ex-Birther-in-Chief asked for — including Obama’s “college records and applications [and] passport applications and records.” (You can watch Trump’s video above.)
For another, as Fahrenthold noted, Trump gave the president a deadline, which expired on Halloween 2012. (Fahrenthold said Trump eventually raised his offer to $50 million.)
The leader of the free world, to the surprise of not many, opted to ignore Trump’s offer. Equally unshocking: Trump’s campaign has not yet responded to Fahrenthold.
Although he did not provide the documents Trump requested, Obama did share his long-form birth certificate. He also mocked the birther movement by unveiling — at the 2011 White House Correspondent’s Dinner gag — his birth video: