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After years of ignoring \u2014 and often enabling \u2014 fraud, waste, and abuse, many Democrat officials and left-wing pundits have finally found what they consider to be a financial \u201cscandal\u201d worth caring about: Secretary of War Pete Hegseth\u2019s end-of-fiscal-year spending included just over $20 million in ribeye steaks, lobster tails, and crab legs.<\/span><\/p>\n Assuming these expenses must have been for lavish nonsense, Democrats from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to California Governor Gavin Newsom sprang to social media, mocking Hegseth, heaping scorn on the Trump administration, and promising a full-scale congressional investigation.<\/span><\/p>\n In addition to billions of taxpayer dollars being burned in this war in Iran, reports are showing that Sec. Pete Hegseth blew $93 billion in federal DOD funding at the end of last year on:<\/p>\n $3.5 billion for cable TV \u2014 Rep. Melanie Stansbury (@Rep_Stansbury) March 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Source: @Rep_Stansbury\/X.com<\/p>\n None of them stopped to ask why the Department of War might spend this money on \u201csurf and turf.\u201d Longtime Democrat consultant Paul Begala, former chief strategist for Bill Clinton, even insisted in a ridiculous cable news display that Secretary Hegseth was eating all the steak and lobster himself.<\/span><\/p>\n CNN\u2019s Paul Begala falsely claims Pete Hegseth purchased ribeye steaks and lobster tails for himself, not the troops.<\/p>\n Scott Jennings, \u201cInternet do something.\u201d<\/p>\n Here are the receipts: pic.twitter.com\/VZ6j4j2sn2<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Thomas Hern (@ThomasMHern) March 12, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Source: @ThomasMHern\/X.com<\/p>\n In their desperation to dunk on the Trump administration, Democrats humiliated themselves, insulted America\u2019s servicemen, and reminded the general public of previous \u201cwaste, fraud, and abuse\u201d they had endorsed, hid, and protected themselves \u2013 while illustrating just how little they understand the American military.<\/span><\/p>\n A <\/span>March 9 opinion piece<\/span><\/a> by Open the Books, a government spending and campaign finance watchdog group, criticized spending reports from the Department of War near the end of September 2025 \u2014 near the end of the fiscal year \u2014 which listed several purchases in the millions of dollars for fine foods, technology, and furniture. These included $2 million on Alaskan king crabs, $6.9 million on lobster tails, $15.1 million on ribeye steaks, $1 million on salmon, and several hundreds of thousands of dollars on desserts.<\/span><\/p>\n To the average American, this is meant to sound bizarre and corrupt. Are generals, admirals, and Pentagon bureaucrats feasting on surf-and-turf nightly? That\u2019s what Open the Books\u2019 report, subsequent legacy media meltdowns, and Democrat officials\u2019 craven pearl clutching is intending to convey. Just look at Newsom\u2019s \u201cPress Office\u201d account on X, picturing AI slop of Hegseth reclining amid piles of lobster tail.<\/span><\/p>\n HEGSETH BLOWING $93 BILLION OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS IN 1 MONTH !! pic.twitter.com\/L8GmyWQ2bt<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) March 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Source: @GovPressOffice\/X.com<\/p>\n Even the libertarians got in on the lie, with Reason\u2019s Eric Boehm <\/span>fabricating a thumbnail<\/span><\/a> showing the Secretary of War at a table with a bright red lobster in front of him using Midjourney AI.<\/span><\/p>\n Far-left outlets like The New Republic attempted to whip this assertion into a frenzy, <\/span>claiming<\/span><\/a> \u201ca good chunk of the budget wasn\u2019t used for anything that could be considered a pertinent military expense,\u201d thereby implying soldiers are left with MREs while the brass enjoys Hunger Games-in-the-Capital-style feasting.<\/span><\/p>\n But if this was all true, it wouldn\u2019t just be liberal Karens and Democrat officials shouting about it \u2014 it would include the voices of angry former servicemen, veterans outraged over such frivolous spending.<\/span><\/p>\n It didn\u2019t, because they know this is all a lie.<\/span><\/p>\n Serving surf-and-turf to troops \u2014 lobster tail<\/a>, crab legs<\/a>, ribeye steaks \u2014 right before deployment or after a stressful mission is a tried and true tradition of the United States military, not to mention a few American civilian and military contracting groups, too. With many units, surf-and-turf Fridays<\/a> are a common and well-deserved expense for our men and women in uniform.<\/span><\/p>\n It has long been an inside joke, a meme among America\u2019s troops, to <\/span>beware being served the surf-and-turf<\/span><\/a> before a long briefing with battalion staff. <\/span>Similar memes, videos, and jokes have long <\/span>celebrated camaraderie<\/span><\/a> over surf-and-turf following a large operation.<\/span><\/p>\n And this is just what our nation\u2019s veterans ruthlessly mocked Democrats with all over social media.<\/span><\/p>\n The lack of self-respect in most of this reporting is simply pathetic. Eric\u2019s Reason was comfortable enough with the deliberately misleading assertion to AI generate a picture for it (strange we couldn\u2019t get photo after photo from Getty Images or Reuters of Hegseth chowing down on lobster tail, considering how much of it he apparently devours!), but had to cover his tracks later in the article.<\/span><\/p>\n All of this consternation about government spending is part of Democrats\u2019 absurd pivot away from all the waste and fraud in the welfare programs they have favored for years. Where was their objection to the USAID revelations showing the millions upon millions the Biden administration had spent on transgender theater in South America, \u201cIraqi Sesame Street\u201d for the Middle East, or spreading atheism in Nepal? Where was <\/span>Molly Jong Fast\u2019s criticism<\/span><\/a> of Pete Buttigieg spending almost $7.5 billion on just eight charging stations at random interstate rest stops?<\/span><\/p>\n All of the sudden, I\u2019m supposed to be outraged because Hegseth\u2019s Department of War spent money on giving our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, guardians, and coastguardsmen a decent meal? Do these weeping masses of outrage buying ice cream machines not remember that the United States had multiple Navy craft dedicated to delivering ice cream to our troops during the Second World War?<\/span><\/p>\n When billions in grants go to NGOs, fraudulent programs, and silly social adventures, the Department of War can afford to spend a drop in the bucket to give our troops a decent meal, replace old phones, computers, and furniture, or (God forbid) replace a piano.<\/span><\/p>\n Our troops deserve better than a nothingburger. Give them a good steak and some lobster. They deserve it.<\/span><\/p>\n * * *<\/p>\n Tony Kinnett is the host of The Tony Kinnett Cast at The Daily Signal. Connect with him on X:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>@TheTonus<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
$225 million for furniture
$15.1 million for ribeye steaks
$6.9\u2026<\/p>\n\n
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