Those DOGE bros snooping through our private data have somehow missed whopping amounts of wasteful spending by Pete Hegseth’s Department of Defense. The former weekend TV host likes to preen as the “Secretary of War” but he might be better described as the Secretary of Unnecessary and Frivolous Spending.
A shocking new analysis from government watchdog Open the Books found Hegseth’s department went on a $93 billion spending spree last year. That’s more money than it spent in any other year since 2008, The New Republic noted, but a lot of that money was spent on non-military items that most of us can only dream of affording.
Apparently, Whiskey Pete thinks it’s OK to spend $6.9 million on lobster tails, $2 million for Alaskan king crab, and $15.1 million for ribeye steak, just in September. Open the Books pointed out that “Fortune magazine recently declared that king crab has taken caviar’s place as the ‘hottest luxury ingredient.’”
Other eye-popping expenses having nothing to do with keeping us safer include a $98,329 Steinway & Sons grand piano for the Air Force chief of staff’s home, a $26,000 violin, and a $21,750 custom handmade flute from the luxury Japanese brand Muramatsu.
We, the taxpayers, also coughed up $12,000 for fruit basket stands, and more than $60,000 for Herman Miller recliners. “All in all, the agency spent more on furniture in 2025 than it had in over a decade,” The New Republic said.
“Just for good measure, the Pentagon dropped another $111,497 on footrests and $3,160 on stickers featuring Dora the Explorer, Frozen, Paw Patrol and more,” Open the Books reported.
The Trump administration is one big band of grifters, living high on the hog on taxpayer money while the rest of us struggle to pay the costs.
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