President Donald Trump vowed to check on Fort Knox to ensure that its gold stockpiles are still present, despite Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s reassurances that everything is where it should be.
Fort Knox is a military base best known for housing the majority of the United States’s gold reserves. The task is likely to be carried out by Elon Musk‘s Department of Government Efficiency — the billionaire first proposed the idea earlier this week.
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“We’re going to go into Fort Knox to make sure the gold is still there,” President Donald Trump told reporters in response to a question about possible budget cuts for the Pentagon. “We hope everything is fine with Fort Knox, the fabled Fort Knox, but we’re going to go to Fort Knox and make sure the gold is still there.”
“If the gold isn’t there, we’re going to be very upset,” Trump added.
The U.S. closed the vaults of the Fort Knox Bullion Depository to the public in 1974, leading to speculation and conspiracy theories about whether some of the gold had been removed. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) led a congressional delegation into the vault in 2017.
Dan O’Donnell, a talk show host in Wisconsin, asked Bessent about the possibility that the gold could be missing.
“We do an audit every year. All the gold is present and accounted for,” Bessent said, adding that he would be happy to arrange for a trip for Trump and Musk to see the vault for themselves.
Musk has enthusiastically boosted the issue in recent days, going so far as to express his wish for a livestream of a visit to the vault.
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A full audit of Fort Knox’s gold reserves by the Treasury, something long called for by Republicans, could also have another major implication. MarketWatch noted that a full audit could lead to a revaluation of its holdings, giving the Treasury another $750 billion, according to one estimate. The gold reserves are on the book for $42 an ounce while gold is currently trading at a record high of roughly $3,000 per ounce.
Congress would have to approve an increase in the official price of gold if the move were to be undertaken, however.