WASHINGTON — Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina used a single post on X on Tuesday to lay out what he says nearly two years of Donald Trump’s presidency have cost the country, ending with the verdict that “the last two years have been a disaster.” The post, published at 11:09 a.m. on Oct. 20, 2026, lists tariffs, health care cuts, White House renovations, Trump’s wealth, immigration enforcement funding, the Epstein files and a war with Iran. It came 14 days before the Nov. 3 midterm elections that will decide control of Congress.
Clyburn has represented South Carolina’s 6th Congressional District since 1993 and served as House Majority Whip. He is now the ranking member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development. The Iran war, which began in late February, has become a central constitutional and defense dispute in Congress, and Clyburn has repeatedly challenged the president’s authority to wage it without congressional approval.
What Clyburn Said
Clyburn framed the post as a reminder to voters, writing that he wanted to remind people what the Trump presidency, with Republicans controlling Congress, had produced. His full post reads:
“I just want to remind people what nearly two years of Trump’s presidency—with Republicans controlling Congress and backing him every step of the way—have brought us:
Sweeping tariffs costing households more than $1,000 a year.
A law that is kicking millions of Americans off their health care while giving tax breaks to the wealthy.
Millions of taxpayer dollars spent renovating the White House to Trump’s personal liking.
Trump’s estimated fortune growing by billions while families struggled with rising costs.
A $70 billion blank check for ICE and CBP to torment American communities and arrest hardworking immigrants—even after their agents shot and killed American citizens.
Continued secrecy surrounding the Epstein files, with Trump’s Justice Department still withholding records.
A costly, senseless war with Iran that has driven prices even higher.
The last two years have been a disaster.
Americans wanted a Congress and President focused on lowering their costs. Instead, they got a Republican Congress that rubber-stamped Trump’s reckless decisions and corruption every step of the way.”
The post pairs a list of seven specific grievances with a single political argument, that Republicans in Congress “rubber-stamped” the president’s choices. Clyburn’s closing lines contrast what he says Americans wanted, a government focused on “lowering their costs,” with what he says they received. That is the same cost-of-living message Democrats have carried into the final weeks of the campaign.
Tariffs and Household Costs
The first item, tariffs costing households more than $1,000 a year, tracks estimates from the Yale Budget Lab. After the Supreme Court ruled in February that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not give the president authority to impose tariffs, Trump imposed replacement 15% tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. The Budget Lab estimated those would cost the typical household about $1,042 if kept through the year. Those 150-day tariffs expired in late July, and the Budget Lab’s president later put the cost of the administration’s revised tariffs at roughly $1,100 annually.
Health Care and the “Big, Beautiful Bill”
The “law” in Clyburn’s second item is the 2025 reconciliation package Trump calls his “big, beautiful bill.” In a January newsletter, Clyburn cited Congressional Budget Office estimates that it would push more than 10 million Americans off health insurance, and he wrote that it cuts food assistance for 4 million people while delivering $1 trillion in tax cuts to the wealthiest 1%. He also noted that enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits expired at the end of 2025. The House passed a three-year extension in January through a discharge petition, with 17 Republicans joining all Democrats.
Trump’s Wealth and the White House Renovation
On wealth, Clyburn’s post says Trump’s estimated fortune has grown “by billions.” Billionaire-ranking estimates published in March 2026 put his net worth at about $6.5 billion, up roughly $1.4 billion from a year earlier. Those estimates have moved with markets: a mid-June figure was closer to $6.1 billion, and an earlier estimate had been as high as $7.3 billion. Crypto ventures and real estate deals were cited as major drivers of the growth.
The renovation item refers to the White House ballroom project on the site of the demolished East Wing. A report based on a contractor’s internal cost estimate said in June that the project could reach $600 million, with only $293 million from private sources. Trump had said on March 31 that “we have no taxpayer putting up 10 cents.” The White House responded that Trump and donors are funding the ballroom “to the tune of approximately $400 million.”
The $70 Billion for ICE and CBP
The “$70 billion blank check” is the Secure America Act, which the House passed 214-212 in early June after the Senate approved it 52-47. Rep. Betty McCollum’s office said the bill provides $38.5 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, $26 billion for Customs and Border Protection and $5 billion for the Department of Homeland Security. Speaker Mike Johnson said the funding means Democrats “will have no ability to defund these agencies in the 119th or 120th Congresses.”
The legislation ended a months-long standoff that began after Renee Good and Alex Pretti were shot and killed during an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis in January. Democrats had demanded body cameras on agents, unmasked officers and judicial warrants for arrests. Clyburn’s January newsletter described Good as a mother of three shot by an ICE agent on Jan. 7.
The Epstein Files
On the Epstein files, Clyburn’s January newsletter said a discharge petition led by Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, forced the House to vote on a bill requiring the Justice Department to release its Epstein records. He wrote that the bill passed with near-unanimous support and that, by January, the department had released only 1% of the files. In February, Rep. Robert Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said the department “appears to have illegally withheld FBI interviews” with a survivor who made allegations against Trump. The Justice Department said all responsive records had been produced except those that were duplicative, privileged or tied to ongoing investigations, and the White House called the Democrats’ claims misleading. Trump has denied wrongdoing.
The Iran War
The final item in Clyburn’s list has the deepest defense dimension. U.S. and Israeli forces launched large-scale strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, and the administration called the campaign Operation Epic Fury. On March 2, Clyburn said the administration, “in disregarding this constitutional requirement in attacking Iran, has put American lives at risk despite the apparent absence of an imminent threat to our country or a coherent strategy to achieve a successful outcome.” On March 5, he announced his vote for the Iran war powers resolution, saying it was meant to avoid “a misguided president putting American lives at risk in a military conflict without a clear national security justification and without a coherent plan to achieve a successful outcome.” He added that the objectives put forward by Trump and his advisers were “constantly shifting” and “ill-defined,” calling it a “war of choice.”
On April 7, after Trump warned in a post that “a whole civilization” would die if Tehran did not meet his demands, Clyburn called the rhetoric “disgraceful.” He wrote that “Congress cannot sit back in the face of this threatened atrocity,” adding that “Republicans must join Democrats to enact the War Powers Resolution” and that “Trump must be reined in.” Hours later, the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan. By then the war had claimed more than 5,000 lives in nearly a dozen countries, including more than 1,600 civilians in Iran, according to tallies from governments and human rights groups. The truce has since frayed amid a U.S. Navy blockade of Iranian maritime trade and Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz. On Sept. 1, Iran’s president said his country would return to the ceasefire agreement if the United States did.
The war’s effect on prices is the link Clyburn draws in his post. The Joint Economic Committee’s Democratic minority calculated in April that American households had paid $16 billion more for gasoline since the war began on Feb. 28. The Energy Information Administration reported that Brent crude averaged $114 per barrel in September and spiked to $131 on Sept. 15. On Sept. 9, Trump predicted the war would end “immediately after the election” and that gasoline would then fall below $2 a gallon, though the weekly national average was still above $4 in early September.
The Midterm Stakes
The political backdrop is a narrow Republican House majority, shown by the 214-212 ICE funding vote. Polymarket, the prediction market platform, currently puts the odds of Democrats winning the House at 92%. Clyburn is also on the ballot, seeking re-election in South Carolina’s 6th District.
Tuesday’s post continues a line of criticism Clyburn has published for months. In May 2025 his office issued a statement marking 100 days of what it called “failed Trump economic policies.” In January he wrote that Trump “is busy renaming buildings after himself and starting costly conflicts overseas” and concluded: “He’s focused on himself and his wealthy friends, when he should be focused on you.” Tuesday’s post distills those arguments into one list. It ends on his charge that Americans “got a Republican Congress that rubber-stamped Trump’s reckless decisions and corruption every step of the way.”