Konyndyk asks why the government is 'not going with someone who has actually done this before'
Jeremy KonyndykFormer director of USAID's Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, in comments to ProPublica
Jeremy Konyndyk, who helped oversee the U.S. response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak, tells ProPublica that countless organizations have decades of experience in this work and asks why the government did not choose one of them.
Responding to
XpresTest won its CDC Ebola entry screening contract and its State Department outbreak response award through competitive bidding.
“I have to wonder why the hell they're not going with someone who has actually done this before.”
Reporting
Where this statement fits
XpresTest won nearly $40 million in Ebola screening awards months after a fund tied to Trump's sons invested in its parent; the sons say they had no role
On November 9, 2026, ProPublica reported that XpresTest, the biosurveillance subsidiary of XWELL Inc., received an $18.8 million CDC contract to screen travelers for Ebola at U.S. airports and a $20 million State Department award for outbreak response in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Both came months after American Ventures, a fund launched by Dominari Holdings, invested about $30 million in XWELL. Dominari hired Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump as advisers and gave them a stake of more than 10%, according to ProPublica. XWELL's chief executive, Ezra Ernst, told ProPublica that XpresTest won both awards in competitive bidding. The federal award record for the CDC contract lists it as not competed, with one offer received, under the urgency exception in FAR 6.302-2. The State Department says its award was competitive. A spokesperson for the Trump sons says they are passive minority investors in the fund and had no involvement in the contracts.
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
ProPublica reports that XpresTest, a subsidiary of XWELL, received an $18.8 million CDC contract for Ebola entry screening at U.S. airports and a $20 million State Department award for outbreak response in the Democratic Republic of Congo, months after American Ventures, a fund launched by Dominari Holdings, invested about $30 million in XWELL. It includes responses from the State Department, a spokesperson for Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, Dominari's chief executive and XWELL's chief executive.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Konyndyk tells ProPublica that there are some parallels between monitoring for COVID-19 and Ebola at airports, but that it is concerning that the government would award such a lucrative contract to a company with no experience in Africa, and that there are countless organizations in the world with decades of experience doing this work.
After the quotation
ProPublica reports that past administrations addressed international disease outbreaks with the World Health Organization, which Trump withdrew from last year, and through USAID, which his administration dismantled.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is the award of nearly $40 million in federal Ebola screening and outbreak response funding to XpresTest months after a fund tied to Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump invested in its parent company, XWELL. Konyndyk calls it concerning that the government gave such a contract to a company with no experience in Africa and questions why experienced groups were passed over, which condemns the awards.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- U.S. Department of State, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
More from this case
Read the full caseXWELL's chief executive says of the Congo award: 'This is a risky contract. I'm not sure we can do it'
XWELL, Inc.
“This is a risky contract. I'm not sure we can do it”Read statement
Dominari's chief executive says he has never heard of the Trump sons using their name to influence a government contract
Dominari Holdings
“We have never seen or even heard of Don or Eric using their family name to influence the granting of a government contract.”Read statement
State Department says its XpresTest award was made 'through a competitive process'
U.S. Department of State
“through a competitive process that builds on this successful model”Read statement
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- Konyndyk asks why the government is 'not going with someone who has actually done this before'
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The Dispute Index. "Konyndyk asks why the government is 'not going with someone who has actually done this before'". First published: 2026-11-10. Last updated: 2026-11-10. https://disputeindex.com/events/8508-jeremy-konyndyk-who-helped-oversee-the-u-s