Donald Trump Asks 'How Is Ebola Going?' While Discussing Congo War and Rwanda Peace Deal in Oval Office Exchange

As a reporter was about to question him about the conflict in the Congo, a decades-long crisis driven by competition over vast mineral wealth, regional geopolitical tension and the legacy of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, President Donald Trump blurted out, "How is Ebola?"

The viral moment happened in the Oval Office on Monday, September 28, when Hariana Verás, a White House correspondent and the first African journalist accredited to the press corps, tried to press Trump on foreign policy regarding Africa.

Verás challenged Trump on the ongoing conflict between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda.

She pointed out that despite a U.S.-brokered peace agreement signed by both nations, Rwanda still actively violated its terms. She added that she had personally traveled to the DRC a month prior and had evidence of Congolese civilians being killed.

After asking if she had truly witnessed it, Trump abruptly pivoted and asked, "How is Ebola going?"

Verás calmly answered that Ebola was under control according to the World Health Organization, but pushed back, clarifying that the ongoing war remained the country's much larger and more pressing crisis.

Trump mumbled, "I'll make sure it works out. That's what I do. I make sure things work out," before quickly moving on to the next reporter.

Critics and media outlets heavily scrutinized the moment as a classic deflection tactic, noting it was particularly unusual given that the Trump administration had previously cut regional USAID funding to help contain a viral outbreak.

The New Republic’s Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling noted the swift shutdown of accountability, saying that "Donald Trump’s response to the ongoing Rwanda-Congo conflict involved deflecting to the Ebola virus before shutting down the line of questioning entirely."

Others noted Trump’s abysmal track record with America’s own disease outbreaks under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

“They should reply ‘about as well as your measles’,” quipped one X commenter.

“Reminder: Trump pulled us out of the WHO in January 2026,” noted another.

“How is Ebola going?’ Trump administration's deep budget cuts and the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) severely weakened disease surveillance, staffing, and medical supply chains,” added another.

Foreign policy reporters noted that Trump's pivot relied on an outdated, reductionist view of Africa as a monolith characterized purely by disease.

Critics pointed out that asking about Ebola when confronted with a complex, multi-decade war that has displaced millions showed a complete lack of grasp of the region’s actual priorities — which Verás herself had to check him on by reiterating that "the biggest problem is the war.”