ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel and CBS’s host of The Late Show, Stephen Colbert, attacked what they described as wasteful and extravagant Pentagon spending by Secretary Pete Hegseth on their Tuesday shows. However, neither man seemed aware that when it came to the fancy food part of this spending, the food in question is a long-standing tradition meant to boost morale among service members.
Kimmel began by taking a weird shot at Hegseth’s Iran-related comments, “Hegseth said today would be the most intense day of strikes on Iran. I think one of the things that’s most troubling about this is how excited Pete Hegseth gets to bomb people. Like he would do it even if he wasn’t getting paid. Just for the love of it, just for the hell of it.”
Jimmy Kimmel apparently doesn’t know about military surf and turf dinners, “Hegseth said today would be the most intense day of strikes on Iran. I think one of the things that’s most troubling about this is how excited Pete Hegseth gets to bomb people. Like he would do it even if… pic.twitter.com/mAXS2KMTMp
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) March 11, 2026
He then moved on, “But he is getting paid, and he’s spending a lot of money. There was a report from a government watchdog group that says Pete Hegseth blew through $93 billion in September of last year alone. Again, just in September, he spent $2 million of taxpayer money on Alaskan king crab. He spent $6.9 million on lobster tail. $140,000 on doughnuts. $124,000 on ice cream machines. $26,000 on sushi preparation tables. And $15.1 million on rib eye steak. What is this, My 600-pound Defense Department?”
The fiscal year ends at the end of September. Additionally, as Haley Fuller of military.com put it in February:
Across branches and generations, service members have circulated a widely recognized belief: when steak and lobster appear in the dining facility, something significant may be coming. Often described as a “surf and turf” meal, the combination has become embedded in military culture as a symbolic precursor to deployments, combat operations, or extended missions.
While experiences vary by unit and theatre, anecdotal accounts from servicemembers consistently reinforce the association between morale-boosting meals and periods of heightened operational tempo.
Kimmel, who claims to have a rigorous fact-checking process, however, only quipped, “How are they eating so much food? Can you imagine—I want you to put this in your head for a second: 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, okay?”
Meanwhile, over at CBS, Colbert tried to make the same point, “Hegseth also went all-out on the buffet. Reportedly, the Pentagon spent $2 million on crab legs, $6.9 million on lobster tail, and over $15 million on rib eye steaks.”
Stephen Colbert does likewise, “Hegseth also went all-out on the buffet. Reportedly, the Pentagon spent $2 million on crab legs. $6.9 million on lobster tail, and over $15 million on rib eye steaks. No, no, no boo! They’re just harkening back to our founders. As Paul Revere… pic.twitter.com/NrqNqPbgpA
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) March 11, 2026
As the clueless audience booed, Colbert continued, “No, no, no, no, no boo! They’re just harkening back to our founders. As Paul Revere declared on his famous ride, ‘One if by surf, two if by turf!’ It wasn’t all high-class food. They also spent $140,000 on doughnuts, $124,000 on ice cream machines, and $3,160 on stickers with characters from Dora the Explorer, Frozen, and Paw Patrol. And despite all that, no one came to Pete Hegseth’s birthday party.”
One imagines Colbert and Kimmel are not opposed to feeding the troops well, but they and their writing staffs are too lazy to see if the narrative that so neatly aligns with their preconceived notions might actually be false. Perhaps they need new and better fact-checkers.
Here are transcripts for the March 10 shows:
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!
3/10/2026
11:38 PM ET
JIMMY KIMMEL: Hegseth said today would be the most intense day of strikes on Iran. I think one of the things that’s most troubling about this is how excited Pete Hegseth gets to bomb people. 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. There was a report from a government watchdog group that says Pete Hegseth blew through $93 billion in September of last year alone. Again, just in September, he spent $2 million of taxpayer money on Alaskan king crab. He spent $6.9 million on lobster tail. $140,000 on doughnuts. $124,000 on ice cream machines. $26,000 on sushi preparation tables. And $15.1 million on rib eye steak. What is this, My 600-pound Defense Department?
How are they eating so much food? Can you imagine—I want you to put this in your head for a second: 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, okay?
***
CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert3/10/2026
11:43 PM ET
Hegseth also went all-out on the buffet. Reportedly, the Pentagon spent $2 million on crab legs, $6.9 million on lobster tail, and over $15 million on rib eye steaks. No, no, no, no, no boo! They’re just harkening back to our founders. As Paul Revere declared on his famous ride, “One if by surf, two if by turf!”
It wasn’t all high-class food. They also spent $140,000 on doughnuts, $124,000 on ice cream machines, and $3,160 on stickers with characters from Dora the Explorer, Frozen, and Paw Patrol. And despite all that, no one came to Pete Hegseth’s birthday party.
