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# $40 million ebola screening contract went to a company that sells spa treatments. Trump's sons are investors.
- URL: https://www.workersrights.news/xpresstest-ebola-contracts-40-million-trump-sons-fund-xwell/
- Published: 2026-11-09T16:49:27.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-09T16:49:27.000Z
- Description: The CEO called the Congo job "risky" and said, "I'm not sure we can do it."
- Author: WorkersRights.News Team
- Tags: Politics

The Trump administration awarded a small biosecurity company nearly $40 million to screen for Ebola and other diseases months after a firm linked to President Donald Trump's elder sons invested in its parent company, [ProPublica reported](https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-sons-xwell-xprestest-government-contracts?ref=workersrights.news). The two contracts are seven times the total the company had received directly from the government before.

### The contracts

The company, XpresTest, is a subsidiary of XWELL, which ProPublica says made most of its money last year from waxing salons and airport spas. XpresTest won a $18.8 million CDC contract in June for what a public notice called "Ebola entry screening services" at several U.S. airports. It later received a $20 million State Department award for outbreak response in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where ProPublica says Ebola has killed more than 5,000 people this year.

XpresTest has never worked with Ebola or provided biosecurity services abroad. XWELL chief executive Ezra Ernst said both contracts were won in competitive bidding but acknowledged overseas work is "a new thing for us." Of the Congo contract, he said, "This is a risky contract. I'm not sure we can do it."

Jeremy Konyndyk, who helped oversee the U.S. response to the 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak, said it is concerning that the government would award such a contract to a company without experience in Africa.

### The Trump family link

In February, a fund called American Ventures invested about $30 million in XWELL, then close to bankrupt by its own CEO's description, for roughly a 10% stake. Dominari Holdings, whose offices are in Trump Tower, launched the fund and hired Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump as advisers, giving them a stake of more than 10% in Dominari.

A spokesperson for the Trump sons said they are "merely passive, minority investors in a fund" and had no "involvement in or knowledge regarding the negotiation or procurement" of any contracts. Dominari's CEO told ProPublica he had never heard of the sons using the family name to influence a contract. The State Department said its award came through a competitive process. The CDC did not respond to ProPublica.

### Part of a pattern

ProPublica reports that other companies backed through American Ventures or tied to the sons have benefited from government actions. For example:

- A Florida drone company, Powerus, received a U.S. Air Force contract worth up to $90 million five months after the Trumps' involvement was announced.
- Earlier this year, ProPublica reported that the Pentagon gave a North Carolina startup linked to Trump Jr. a $620 million loan after a top presidential aide intervened.

### What comes next

The Trump family's finances are expected to be a focus for Congress now that Democrats won both chambers. "When the government is corrupted for personal gain over the public interest, Americans lose trust and taxpayer dollars are wasted," Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on House Oversight, wrote in a letter to colleagues last week, according to ProPublica.

### Sources

- [ProPublica: Firm Linked to Trump's Sons Got Nearly $40 Million in Federal Contracts to Screen for Ebola and Other Diseases](https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-sons-xwell-xprestest-government-contracts?ref=workersrights.news)