By They simply do not know how anything works. Some liberal commentators mocking the Pentagon’s recent steak-and-lobster purchases appear to have missed a long-standing military tradition: the “surf and turf” meals routinely served to rank-and-file troops.
The criticism erupted after a report from the government watchdog group Open the Books highlighted millions of dollars spent on premium food items during the final month of the 2025 fiscal year. The analysis of federal procurement data showed the Department of Defense spent roughly $93.4 billion in September 2025, the largest single-month outlay by any federal agency since at least 2008.
Among the purchases were $15.1 million in ribeye steak, $6.9 million in lobster tail, and about $2 million in Alaskan king crab, along with smaller purchases that included salmon, ice-cream machines, and doughnuts. Critics quickly seized on the numbers. Commentators on outlets such as MSNBC and CNN framed the spending as extravagant, particularly given the administration’s emphasis on cutting government waste and prioritizing military readiness.
Seth Meyers (with the help of a Jen Psaki clip) joins Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert in not knowing about military surf and turf meals, "They spent $15 million on steak in one month. Who are you? Sterling Cooper Draper and Pryce? If you're gonna eat that much steak, you better… pic.twitter.com/eskqq2b3US
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) March 12, 2026
But the viral narrative—often reduced to jokes about “lavish meals for generals”—glosses over both how the Pentagon budget works and who actually eats those meals.
Here’s Michelle Obama serving ribeyes to troops as part of a surf and turf meal that has been military tradition since WWII, but mainstream press has suddenly decided is a “gotcha” for some reason. https://t.co/g5EE6qOQYS pic.twitter.com/YGZpUPBfnx
— Kane 謝凱堯 (@kane) March 12, 2026
Military.com wrote just last month that “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.”
Of course, shortly afterwards America went to war with Iran.
Under federal budgeting rules, agencies operate under a “use-it-or-lose-it” system in which unspent funds at the end of the fiscal year risk being cut from the next year’s appropriation. The result is a predictable spending surge each September as departments finalize contracts and procurement before the Sept. 30 deadline.
The Pentagon, with the largest budget in the federal government, regularly experiences the most visible spikes. According to the watchdog report, nearly half of the $93.4 billion spent in September 2025 occurred in the final five business days of the fiscal year—a pattern that has appeared under administrations of both parties for decades.
Food procurement is only a small piece of that broader spending rush. And in the military, meals featuring steak and seafood—commonly called “surf and turf”—have long been used to boost morale among enlisted troops. Bases frequently serve the meals during holidays, before deployments, or following demanding training exercises.
Those meals are not reserved for senior officers. Instead, they are typically served in dining facilities to enlisted personnel who otherwise rely heavily on standard field rations such as MREs.
Spread across a force of more than 1.3 million active-duty service members and hundreds of bases worldwide, the roughly $22 million spent on premium seafood and steak during the month amounts to only a few dollars per person.
Some media commentary blurred that distinction. During one discussion on CNN, political commentator Paul Begala suggested that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had personally splurged on luxury meals. Critics quickly pushed back, noting that the purchases were department-wide procurement for military dining facilities rather than personal spending.
CNN's Paul Begala falsely claims Pete Hegseth purchased ribeye steaks and lobster tails for himself, not the troops.
Scott Jennings, "Internet do something."
Here are the receipts: pic.twitter.com/VZ6j4j2sn2
— Thomas Hern (@ThomasMHern) March 12, 2026
But for many service members, the debate over steak and lobster misses the point. What critics portray as excess often shows up on base dining trays as a rare morale boost—a brief break from routine rations for troops preparing to deploy or returning from demanding assignments.
https://t.co/EEf3UfMgKT pic.twitter.com/2k6srl1ctF
— CJ Pearson (@Cjpearson) March 12, 2026
Liberal commentators, almost none of them military veterans, wouldn’t know about that.
To all the idiots criticizing the pentagon for surf and turf here’s a story for you pic.twitter.com/ZsC7JYI4dI
— Joey Jones (@Johnny_Joey) March 12, 2026
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