Waxing-Salon Firm Won $40 Million Federal Ebola Contract Months After Trump Sons’ Fund Invested – With No Experience With Disease

HOLLYWOOD, FLORIDA – SEPTEMBER 11: Donald Trump Jr. and former President of the United States Donald Trump look on prior to the fight between Evander Holyfield and Vitor Belfort during Evander Holyfield vs. Vitor Belfort presented by Triller at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on September 11, 2021 in Hollywood, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)

A small biosecurity company won nearly $40 million in federal contracts to screen for Ebola and other diseases just months after an investment fund linked to Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump put money into its parent company, according to a ProPublica investigation published Monday.

The report adds to growing scrutiny of how President Donald Trump‘s family has profited during his second term, just days after the president said he didn’t know his own net worth had grown by billions.

The company, XpresTest, received an $18.8 million contract from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in June to provide Ebola screening at several U.S. airports. It then won a $20 million State Department grant to respond to infectious disease outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where an Ebola outbreak has killed more than 5,000 people this year.

Together, the awards are worth seven times more than all the government contracts the company had directly received before, ProPublica found.

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XpresTest’s parent company, XWELL, is best known for its airport spas. Last year, it made most of its money from waxing salons and airport spas offering manicures and massages. XpresTest has screened travelers for COVID-19 and other diseases at U.S. airports for years, but it has never worked with Ebola or provided biosecurity services abroad.

XWELL CEO Ezra Ernst said the company won both awards through competitive bidding but acknowledged that working overseas is “a new thing for us.”

“This is a risky contract. I’m not sure we can do it,” Ernst told ProPublica.

The Trump sons’ link to XWELL came in February, when a fund called American Ventures invested about $30 million in the company. At the time, XWELL was valued at just $3 million, and Ernst said it was “close to bankrupt.”

American Ventures was launched by Dominari Holdings, a financial firm with offices in Trump Tower. Dominari hired the Trump sons as advisers after their father won a second term and gave them a stake of more than 10% in the company.

A spokesperson for Donald Jr. and Eric said they are “merely passive, minority investors” in the fund and had no involvement in or knowledge of any of the company’s government contracts. Dominari CEO Anthony Hayes also said he had never seen the brothers use their family name to influence a contract.

The State Department said its award was made through a competitive process. The CDC did not respond to ProPublica’s request for comment.

Global health experts questioned why the administration would hire a company with no experience in Africa. Jeremy Konyndyk, who helped lead the U.S. response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, said many organizations have decades of experience doing this work.

“I have to wonder why the hell they’re not going with someone who has actually done this before,” he said.

ProPublica also found that XWELL did not publicly announce either contract, even though public companies are generally required to disclose major developments that could affect their share price. Ernst cited several reasons, including uncertainty about whether the company could complete the work.

The report comes as Democrats prepare to take control of Congress in January. Rep. Robert Garcia, who is seeking to chair the House Oversight Committee, has vowed to investigate what he calls the “Trump crime family,” including the president’s sons.

Other companies backed by American Ventures have also benefited from Trump administration actions, including a Florida drone company that won an Air Force contract worth up to $90 million.

Erik Meers is the founder and editor of uPolitics.com and uInterview.com. He was previously the Managing Editor of GQ and Harper’s Bazaar. Follow him on X and Instagram at @erikmeers.

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