Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert Take Aim at Pete Hegseth’s Overspending

Yesterday it was reported that the Pentagon, led by Pete Hegseth, spent more than $93 billion in September, including millions on lobster and ribeye steak. Several late-night hosts, including Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert, commented on Hegseth’s reckless spending, as well as his desire to drop bombs on Iran.

“I think one of the things that’s most troubling about this is how excited Pete Hegseth gets to bomb people,” Kimmel said. “Like he would do it even if he wasn’t getting paid. Just for the love of it. Just for the hell of it. But he is getting paid and he’s spending a lot of money.”

Kimmel recounted how the report suggested that Hegseth spent $2 on Alaskan king crab, $6.9 million on lobster tail, $140,000 on donuts, $124,000 on ice cream machines, and $ 1.5 million on ribeye steaks. “What is this? ‘My 600 Pound Defense Department?’” Kimmel asked. “How are they eating so much food? Can you imagine the size of the egg Sean Hannity would lay if a Democrat had spent millions of dollars on lobster tails and sushi preparation tables? He would never walk again.”

The host added that the Pentagon has spent more on furniture last year than they have over the entire past decade. “But that’s because the vice president humped all their couches into disrepair,” Kimmel noted.

On The Late Show, Stephen Colbert recounted how Hegseth spent $12,000 on fruit basket stands. “Wait, you’re ordering what?” he asked. “You’re ordering fruit baskets so fancy they come with a stand? Come on Pete, if you need fruit at work do the normal thing: put a clementine in your tote and find it three weeks later when it’s a furry, grey golf ball.”

The audience booed as Colbert listed the cost of shellfish and steak. “No, no boo,” he replied. “They’re just harkening back to our founders. As Paul Revere declared on his famous ride, ‘One if by surf, two if by turf!’”

The spending report was published by Open the Books. It said Hegseth and the Pentagon spent $93 billion in September, including on luxury food items, a grand piano, and Apple products. The Pentagon also paid $225.6 million for furniture.

“Under Secretary Hegseth, the Pentagon has consistently said its mission is to refocus on warfighting and lethality,” Open the Books CEO John Hart wrote. “Last year, we highlighted the problem of wasteful use-it-or-lose-it year-end spending. We noted that this reform is fully within the secretary’s control and is a historic opportunity to make good on that promise.”

In February 2025, Hegseth said he welcomed a DOGE review of the Pentagon spending. “We need to know when we spend dollars, we need to know where they’re going and why that simple accounting and that has not existed at the Defense Department,” Hegseth told Fox news. “We’re going to fix that.” He added, “The Defense Department’s got a huge budget, but it needs to be responsible.”