{"id":48125,"date":"2026-05-08T11:43:57","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T18:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=48125"},"modified":"2026-05-08T11:43:58","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T18:43:58","slug":"hegseth-lampooned-for-absurd-video-claiming-1-5-trillion-pentagon-budget-puts-american-taxpayer-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/05\/08\/hegseth-lampooned-for-absurd-video-claiming-1-5-trillion-pentagon-budget-puts-american-taxpayer-first\/","title":{"rendered":"Hegseth Lampooned for Absurd Video Claiming $1.5 Trillion Pentagon Budget Puts \u2018American Taxpayer First\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/media-library\/secretary-of-defense-pete-hegseth-testifies-during-a-senate-armed-services-committee-hearing-on-april-30-2026-in-washington-dc.jpg?id=66701787&amp;width=1200&amp;height=400&amp;quality=70&amp;coordinates=0%2C72%2C0%2C270\" alt=\"Hegseth Lampooned for Absurd Video Claiming $1.5 Trillion Pentagon Budget Puts 'American Taxpayer First'\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth testifies during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on April 30, 2026 in Washington, DC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0(Photo by Graeme Sloan\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cPerformative dipshittery, wrapped in fictional jingoism, delivered by an incompetent drunk wearing the clothes of an adolescent boy,\u201d said one critic of Hegseth\u2019s video.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/brad-reed\">Brad Reed<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>May 07, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth drew instant ridicule on Thursday after he released a video touting President Donald Trump\u2019s proposed $1.5 trillion military&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/budget\">budget<\/a>&nbsp;as a fiscally responsible plan that is \u201cputting the American taxpayer first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the start of the video, Hegseth accuses defense contractors of bilking the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/pentagon\">Pentagon<\/a>&nbsp;for expenses such as factory construction, while also constantly charging more for cost overruns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>RECOMMENDED&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/pentagon-iran-war-cost\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/media-library\/pentagon-secretary-pete-hegseth.jpg?id=66666409&amp;width=1200&amp;height=1200&amp;quality=70&amp;coordinates=832%2C0%2C833%2C0\" alt=\"Pentagon Secretary Pete Hegseth\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/pentagon-iran-war-cost\">\u2018The Pentagon Is Lying\u2019: Iranian Foreign Minister Puts US Cost of War at $100 Billion<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/hegseth-trump-jesus\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/media-library\/defense-secretary-hegseth-and-joint-chiefs-chairman-caine-hold-press-briefing.jpg?id=65558882&amp;width=1200&amp;height=1200&amp;quality=70&amp;coordinates=833%2C0%2C834%2C0\" alt=\"Defense Secretary Hegseth And Joint Chiefs Chairman Caine Hold Press Briefing\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/hegseth-trump-jesus\">Citing Scripture, Hegseth Compares Trump to Jesus and Journalists Covering Unpopular Iran War to the Pharisees<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Hegseth then claims that Trump has brought together a group of private-sector negotiators whom he\u2019s labeled \u201cDeal Team Six\u201d to lay down the law on the defense industry and save the US taxpayer money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Thanks to President Trump\u2019s $1.5 trillion defense budget, this War Department has moved from bureaucracy to business.<br><br>This is a FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT in our Arsenal of Freedom\u2014ensuring our military remains the most lethal fighting force in the world. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ykIfMw3kuU\">pic.twitter.com\/ykIfMw3kuU<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SecWar\/status\/2052396775797891417?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 7, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Hegseth never explains how it is possible that the president and his \u201cDeal Team Six\u201d are saving US taxpayers money while at the same time asking US taxpayers to fund a $1.5 trillion military budget that would be over 50% more than the 2025 US defense budget and more than four times the money spent on defense by&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/worldpopulationreview.com\/country-rankings\/military-spending-by-country\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">China<\/a>, the world\u2019s second biggest defense spender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regardless, Hegseth wrote in a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/social-media\">social media<\/a>&nbsp;post that the $1.5 trillion budget would be \u201ca FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT in our Arsenal of Freedom\u2014ensuring our military remains the most lethal fighting force in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Critics of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/trump-administration\">Trump administration<\/a>&nbsp;erupted in mockery after seeing the Hegseth video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSpread this lame ass video everywhere,\u201d&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TVietor08\/status\/2052419765730439471\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a>&nbsp;Pod Save America co-host Tommy Vietor, a former National Security Council staffer under President&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/barack-obama\">Barack Obama<\/a>. \u201cI want every voter to know that Trump has requested a $1.5 TRILLION Pentagon budget. Shut up if you want better&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/healthcare\">healthcare<\/a>&nbsp;or for&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/social-security\">Social Security<\/a>&nbsp;to remain solvent. All you get is more bombs to drop on Iranian schools.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Indigo Olivier, a reporter for The New Republic, said Democrats could make the proposed Trump budget a winning issue given how many other problems\u2014including the rising costs of gasoline, groceries, and healthcare\u2014that the Trump administration seemingly has no interest in addressing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI would love to hear Democrats talk about Pentagon price gouging with even half the energy they devote to Hasan Piker,\u201d she&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/IndigoOlivier\/status\/2052406650049347590\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a>. \u201cThe administration pushing a $1.5 trillion defense budget somehow becoming the face of anti-waste messaging is political malpractice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Former Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.)&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/justinamash\/status\/2052417804079415616\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">described<\/a>&nbsp;Trump\u2019s proposed Pentagon budget as \u201chundreds of billions more in waste and fraud\u2014at taxpayer expense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cRemember when this administration pretended it was going to bring down the national debt?\u201d Amash asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Former Republican political strategist Jeff Timmer delivered an even harsher assessment of Hegseth\u2019s video, which he&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/jefftimmer\/status\/2052432997274489227\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">labeled<\/a>&nbsp;\u201cperformative dipshittery, wrapped in fictional jingoism, delivered by an incompetent drunk wearing the clothes of an adolescent boy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Journalist Patrick Henningsen&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/21WIRE\/status\/2052459174483591308\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ripped<\/a>&nbsp;Hegseth for delivering a \u201cdesperate, dumbed-down message\u201d that he predicted would \u201cgo down in history as one of the biggest own-goals yet\u2014and the worst pieces of war propaganda we\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Steven Kosiak, nonresident fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, wrote an\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/quincyinst.org\/research\/trumps-1-5-trillion-defense-budget-request-unhinged-unaffordable-and-unnecessary\/#\" target=\"_blank\">analysis<\/a>\u00a0last month of Trump\u2019s proposed $1.5 trillion military budget in which he said, \u201cIt is difficult to overstate just how massive an increase in defense spending this would represent, or how unhinged it seems to be from reality and sober policymaking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/brad-reed\">Brad Reed<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Brad Reed is a staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/brad-reed\">Full Bio &gt;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth testifies during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on April 30, 2026 in Washington, DC. \u00a0(Photo by Graeme Sloan\/Getty Images) \u201cPerformative dipshittery, wrapped in fictional jingoism, delivered by an incompetent drunk wearing the clothes of an adolescent boy,\u201d said one critic of Hegseth\u2019s video. Brad&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/05\/08\/hegseth-lampooned-for-absurd-video-claiming-1-5-trillion-pentagon-budget-puts-american-taxpayer-first\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48125"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48125"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48126,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48125\/revisions\/48126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}