A new report revealed that the US Department of Defense and Pentagon have spent approximately $93.4 billion on luxury items such as seafood and fruit baskets, with the majority of the spending occurring in just one month.
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The report by government spending watchdog Open The Books disclosed that the Pentagon spent the funds on grants and contracts.
“Since at least 2008 — and presumably in history — no federal agency has ever spent so much on grants and contracts in a single month,” the report stated.
During the last five working days of September 2025 alone, the Department of Defense spent $50.1 billion on grants and contracts. The amount is notably more than the annual defense budget of numerous countries. Only nine foreign countries have spent that much on their military in an “entire year.”
“These amounts only include money sent to entities outside the government,” the report continued. “Not salaries for service members and scores of other expenses. Instead, the shopping spree encompasses luxury food items like lobster, high-end furniture, and rushed IT purchases.”
Open The Books further stated that the Department of Defense spent $225.6 million on furniture, which is the most since 2014. It was noted that half was labeled “office furniture.”
“The purchases included $60,719 worth of chairs from the premium furniture manufacturer Herman Miller,” the report pointed out. “Including at least one order of their luxurious Aeron Chair for $1,844. Another $12,540 paid for three-tiered fruit basket stands.”
Hegseth DIdn’t Hold Back on Spending Money on Luxurious Meals, Technology, and Musical Instruments
Despite Hegseth stating in late September 2025 that it was “completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals,” the Pentagon spent $2 million on Alaskan king crab in that month alone.
“It’s the fifth time the Pentagon under Donald Trump has spent $2 million or more on king crab in a single month,” Open the Books revealed. “Twice during his first term and three times in 2025. It’s only happened one other month in history (February 2021).”
The military also purchased $6.9 million of lobster tails in September.
It was further revealed that the Department of Defense spent more than $7.4 million on lobster tails in four separate months in 2025 alone. The months were March, May, June, and October.
The Pentagon also spent funds on the following food:
- Ribeye steak: %15.1 million
- Salmon: $1 million
- Doughnuts: $139,224 for 272 orders
- Ice cream machines: $124,000
- Sushi preparation tables: $26,000
Open the Books also noted that the Pentagon spent $5.9 billion on IT and telecommunications in September 2025. This includes $3.5 billion for tech support services and $2.9 billion in IT-related goods (laptops and software licenses).
In the same month, defense officials purchased $5.3 million worth of Apple devices, including 400 new iPad Air M3s for $315,200. The same iPad with 128 gigabytes of storage is available online for just $499, but the DoD opted for the more expensive 512-gigabyte edition at $788 each. Another $4 million was spent on Samsung products. This includes a 98-inch monitor with a “crystal UHD display” for $4,000.
Meanwhile, $1.8 million was spent on musical instruments. Among the instruments was a $98,329 Steinway & Sons grand piano for the Air Force chief of staff’s home; $26,000 for a violin; and $21,750 for a custom handmade flute from Muramatsu.
Billions of Dollars Was Sent to Foreign Governments in September
The Department of Defense further spent $6.6 billion on purchases from foreign governments and foreign-owned businesses in September.
Approximately $3 billion was spent on services, including training classes, janitorial work, and border surveillance. $3.6 billion was spent on goods that were produced by foreign-owned companies or governments. Among the items were firetrucks, motors, and computer chips. However, $1.4 billion was spent on items manufactured abroad, while $2.2 billion was spent on US-manufactured items.
The Department of Defense further purchased $252.3 million in items from American-owned businesses, but they were manufactured overseas.
It was noted that no money was sent to “adversarial countries” such as China or Russia.
Despite DOGE efforts to bring down spending, the US federal government ended 2025 with a $1.8 trillian deficit.