Investigated
Did Trump family ties influence XWELL/XpresTest receiving nearly $40M in federal biosecurity contracts?Source
XpresTest jumped from airport screening to nearly $40 million in Ebola contracts after a Trump-linked investment.
Source mix
2 of 5 institutional
Nov 9, 2026
Image: businessupturn.com
The Story
XpresTest had airport-screening experience, but the record does not show that Trump family ties decided the Ebola contracts.
The government sought an existing airport-screening operator during infectious-disease emergencies. XpresTest had relevant airport experience, and the State Department says the Congo contract was competitively awarded. The unresolved weakness is the leap from airport COVID screening to international Ebola response, especially after the family-linked investment.
- MeritThe government’s stated rationale rests on XpresTest’s prior airport-screening work, not on proof that the company had handled Ebola abroad.
- OversightThe timing and scale of the awards make procurement records, competition and performance important public tests.
- The State Department said the Congo award came through a competitive process building on XpresTest’s airport-screening record.
- XpresTest had monitored COVID-19 and other diseases for the government at U.S. airports before these awards.
- The available reporting does not establish that Trump family ties caused the contract decisions.
Deeper Insight
XpresTest’s jump from airport screens to Ebola contracts shows how proximity can outrun experience when public health becomes a marketplace.
A fund linked to Donald Jr. and Eric Trump invested in XWELL, then its subsidiary XpresTest won nearly $40 million in federal disease-response work, about seven times its earlier direct federal contracts. The government cites airport-screening experience and a competitive Congo award. But the leap to Ebola abroad leaves a harder question: can trust survive when access grows faster than expertise?
- What it could changeA proven airport-screening record could become a shortcut into international outbreak work, even when the disease is new to the company.
- How it touches todayEvery emergency contract tests whether speed is being used to protect the public or to lower the bar for connected firms.
- Our futureIf proximity keeps beating experience, outbreak response could become another place where trust is bought before it is earned.
- The family-linked investment preceded nearly $40 million in contracts, which were about seven times the company’s earlier direct federal contract value.
- XpresTest had never worked with Ebola or provided biosecurity services abroad before the Congo assignment, according to the originating report.
- Research on Ebola-era airport screening found that strategies differ in detection, missed cases and false alarms; screening is not a simple guarantee of containment.
Sources · 5
- 2 Journals & institutions
- 1 News reporting
- 2 Other / unclassified
What do these mean?
- Journals & institutions. Published in a peer-reviewed journal, or from a university, government body, court or other institution.
- News reporting. Journalism: newspapers, magazines and news sites.
- Other / unclassified. A site we have not classified yet. This says nothing good or bad about it.
Featured · Primary source · pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Does screening keep Ebola out of USA?
Journal · peer-reviewed
# Does screening keep Ebola out of USA? PMC4325372. Tropical medicine & surgery, 2:1000177. Published 2014-11-14. ## Authors John S Schieffelin, Tan Xu, Wenjie Sun ## Details - DOI: https://doi.org/10.4172/2329-9088.1000177 - PMID: 25685826 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25685826/) - PMCID: PMC432
Read sourceAnalysis · propublica.org
Firm Linked to Trump’s Sons Got Nearly $40 Million in Federal Contracts to Screen for Ebola and Other Diseases
News reporting
Donald Trump Jr., left, and Eric Trump, right, watch as their father, Donald Trump, center, speaks to members of the media in 2024. Justin Lane/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images The Trump administration awarded a small biosecurity company nearly $40 million to screen for Ebola and other infectious diseases just months after a firm linked to President Donald Trump’s elder sons invested in its parent c
Read sourceAnalysis · fastrack.news
Fastrack · Trump Sons-Linked Firm Won Nearly $40M in Ebola Screening Funds
Other
# Trump Sons-Linked Firm Won Nearly $40M in Ebola Screening Funds The Trump administration awarded XpresTest nearly $40 million to screen for Ebola and other diseases. A fund tied to the president's elder sons invested in its parent company in February. - $20 million came from the State Department f
Read source