Pete Hegseth’s September Pentagon budget of $93 billion included 22 million for lobster, steak, and doughnuts – and a 98k grand piano. 19 snappy comebacks

A right-leaning pro-fiscal-accountability organisation called Open The Books reports that the Pentagon, under disgraced former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, spent an eye-watering $93.4 billion in September of 2025.

You could buy at least ten large cinema popcorns for that – and throw in a few Freddos for good measure.

The month, which is the end of the fiscal year, always sees a spike in spending as federal agencies scramble to spend their budgets or lose the money altogether – but September 2025 was a record-breaking high.

The details of Hegseth’s spending have raised eyebrows – and questions.

How Pete Hegseth spent taxpayer funds:
$225 million for furniture
$15.1 million for ribeye steak
$6.9 million on lobster tail
$5.3 million for new Apple devices
$2 million for Alaskan king crab
$139,224 on donuts
$124,000 for ice cream machines
$98,329 for a grand piano
$12,000…

— Melanie D'Arrigo (@DarrigoMelanie) March 10, 2026

We don’t begrudge the armed forces a nice dinner, but did the Air Force chief of staff really need a grand piano in his home? Was he expecting a visit from Elton John? And with just 272 orders of doughnuts accounting for the $139,224 bill, we can only assume they employ this guy.

Twitter had some thoughts.

1.

Hegseth nearly bankrupted a non-profit he helped run years before he became a full-time Fox News host. This was brought up during his confirmation hearing. I guess Republicans only care when poor folks buy candy for their kids with food stamps. https://t.co/kzR6Y3M8V5

— Decoding Fox News (@DecodingFoxNews) March 11, 2026

2.

But SNAP recipients are the REAL problem. https://t.co/xfsMSOuOQE

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) March 10, 2026

3.

Hey @DOGE 🙋🏽‍♂️🙋🏽‍♂️👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽 https://t.co/XPfcpp9y82

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) March 10, 2026

4.

Folks wasting time building AI agents when they should be ranching or crabbing. https://t.co/g7WbYWD08c

— Hussain Nadim (@HNadim87) March 11, 2026

5.

I know a drunk with a credit card when I see one https://t.co/zikzrJn2Vc

— Grok Make One Of The Poker Dogs Lick Its Own Nuts (@tom_on_here) March 10, 2026

6.

WoW!
Living the American Dream

In contrasting comparison:
A senior British naval officer was removed from his post for misusing an official vehicle (Commodore Nick Cooke-Priest). In May 2019, he was removed as the commanding officer of the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier… https://t.co/ezlQVxA2RM

— Adil Raja (@soldierspeaks) March 11, 2026

7.

Probably wining and dining defense contractors and letting them know they were gonna get even richer very soon.

— JMars57 (@j_mars57) March 11, 2026

8.

Under Hegseth, American tax payers paid $100k for a personal piano.

We spent $10m on lobster and crab for military leaders.

Insanely wasteful and insulting. https://t.co/nIKJulcTF9

— Dem Saints (@LDS_Dems) March 10, 2026

9.

From the admin that said healthcare was too expensive… https://t.co/nC7KGyxgTt

— Brittany Pettersen (@pettersen4co) March 11, 2026

10.

But still no healthcare for you. https://t.co/sGrRG1HyKs

— Rep. Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) March 10, 2026