In September 2025, the Pentagon spent a record $93.4 billion in one month on grants and contracts.
In the last five days of that month alone, $50.1 billion was spent on grants and contracts. That is more than the entire annual military budget of nine foreign countries — including Israel.
At the end of the Department of War’s fiscal year in September, funding rules force the Pentagon to use up what’s left of its unused funds or forfeit what’s left — otherwise they may potentially see reduced funding in the following year.
Apparently Congress does not allow a roll-over of funds to the next fiscal year.
So instead of forfeiting the leftover monies, the Pentagon spent billions of dollars on luxury food items like lobster and Alaskan king crab, high-end furniture, and IT purchases.
The Food (for those generals who were called fat?)
$6.9 million on lobster tail in September alone. The months of March, May, June and October saw $7.4 million more on lobster tail.
$2 million on Alaskan king crab in September. There were five other months in Trump’s two terms where more than $2 million was spent monthly on king crab — twice in the first term, and three times in 2025. Only one other time in history this was seen — in February 2021.
- $15.1 million of ribeye steak
- $1 million of salmon
- 272 orders of doughnuts for $139,224
- $124,000 for ice cream machines
- $26,000 for sushi preparation tables
Included in the luxury furnishings for the DoW:
- $60,719 worth of chairs from the premium furniture manufacturer Herman Miller, which included $1,844 for Aeron office chairs
- $12,540 for three-tiered fruit basket stands
Included in $5.9 billion for IT and Telecoms:
$5.3 million of Apple devices, including 400 of the new iPad Air M3 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 a rate of $788 each.
Another $4 million was spent on Samsung products, including a 98-inch monitor with “crystal UHD display” for $4,000.
Also purchased:
- Musical instruments cost $1.8 million.
- That included 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.
- $111,497 on footrests
- $3,160 on stickers featuring Dora the Explorer, Frozen, Paw Patrol and others
After all of the purchasing, there was also a $19.3 million garbage collection bill.
From watch dog agency Open The Books.