As many Americans continue to struggle with the rising cost of living, the US Pentagon reportedly ended the fiscal year, which runs from October to September, on a spending spree, burning through $93 billion on items ranging from iPads to million-dollar crab and lobster dinners.
Open the Books, a government watchdog, found in a new analysis that in September 2025, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth allegedly burned through cash, spending more than $9 million on crab and lobster dinners.
Unusual expenses for crab and lobster dinners also attracted attention. According to a report on Military.com, there is a widely held belief that when steak and lobster appear in the mess hall, something significant is likely to come. Often described as a “surf and turf” meal, the combination has become part of military culture as a precursor to deployment, combat operations, or extended missions.
This belief appears to be true as US President Donald Trump has increased military presence in the Middle East and deployed large naval and air assets to the region as tensions with Iran have escalated. This included aircraft carriers, fighter jets and missile defense systems. After an increased military deployment, the US launched strikes against Iran in late February.
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Why was the Pentagon spending?
As the fiscal year draws to a close, defense officials often focus on depleting the remaining military budget. Under the use-it-or-lose-it rules, any unspent funds must be returned, which may also risk smaller budget allocations the following year.
What did the analysis find?
In the final days of September, the Defense Department spent over $50.1 billion on grants and contracts, more than the annual defense budget of countries like Israel and Italy. Allegedly, there are only nine foreign countries that spend such a massive amount on their military in a year.
Lobster tails, salmon and king crab top the DoD spending list
The watchdog also revealed that in September alone, the US Department of Defense (DoD) spent a total of $6.9 million on lobster tail and $2 million on Alaskan crab. In 2025, the Department of Defense also spent more than $7.4 million on lobster tails in March, May, June and October. Decadent seafood wasn’t the only expensive item the Pentagon bought, however. Hegseth also reportedly spent $15.1 million on ribeye steak, $124,000 on new ice cream machines and $139,224 on donut orders in September. She also spent $1 million on salmon and $26,000 on sushi tables.
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DoD Furniture Purchase
In addition, at the end of the military’s fiscal year, furniture purchases increased sharply. Since 2008, the Department of Defense has spent an average of $257.6 million on furniture each September, roughly 564% more than usual. In other months, the military spends an average of only about $38.8 million on furniture. In 2025, the Department of Defense spent $225.6 million on furniture, the most since 2014. The analysis showed that most of the furniture was labeled “office furniture.” She also spent $60,719 on chairs and paid $12,540 for three-tier fruit basket stands.
IT and telecommunications
At least $5.9 billion was spent on information technology and telecommunications in September, including $3.5 billion on services such as technical support and cable television, the fourth-highest monthly total on record. This also includes $2.4 billion worth of IT-related goods, including laptops and software licenses.
Electronics
In the most recent fiscal year, which ended in September, US defense officials bought $5.3 million worth of Apple devices. This included 400 new iPad Air M3s for $315,200. The analysis shows that the same iPad with 128GB of storage is available for $499, but the Department of Defense opted for the 512GB storage models.
A whopping $4 million was spent on Samsung products, which included a $4,000 98-inch “Crystal UHD Display” monitor.
Musical instruments
The DoD continued to indulge its passion for music as it purchased $1.8 million worth of instruments. These include a $98,329 Steinway & Sons grand piano commissioned for the Air Force Chief of Staff’s home, a $26,000 violin and a $21,750 handmade flute from luxury Japanese brand Muramatsu.
Other items
The Pentagon also bought $111,497 in footboards and another $3,160 in stickers featuring Dora the Explorer, Frozen, Paw Patrol and more. It also spent $19.3 million on garbage collection.
