Trump Vows to Inspect Fort Knox, Demands Answers on US Gold Reserves
President Donald Trump is raising new questions about the security of America’s gold reserves, vowing to personally inspect Fort Knox to ensure the nation’s bullion remains untouched.
Speaking at the Republican Governors Association on Thursday night, Trump pledged to open the facility’s doors and verify that the gold is still there.
“All my life, I’ve heard about Fort Knox. That’s where the gold is kept, right?” Trump said, according to the Daily Mail.
“We’re going to open up the doors. I’m going to see we have gold there.”
“We want to find out, did anybody steal the gold in Fort Knox?”
“We’re going to inspect Fort Knox,” he continued, emphasizing the significance of the inspection. “We want to make sure that we actually have, you know, 400 tons of gold, or whatever the hell it is.”
“It’s a lot of gold. I don’t want to open it and the cupboards are bare.”
Trump’s remarks have added fuel to growing speculation about the security of the nation’s gold reserves—a concern echoed by billionaire Elon Musk. Tasked by Trump with identifying government inefficiencies, Musk has been vocal about the need for an audit of Fort Knox, calling for greater transparency regarding its contents.
Responding to a post on X questioning the last official inspection, Musk asked, “Surely it’s reviewed at least every year?”
His question prompted Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul (R) to weigh in, confirming that regular audits are not conducted and inviting Musk to see Fort Knox for himself, as TTOA previously reported.
Musk further stoked intrigue on Monday by posting a meme from the animated show “South Park” that read, “Annnnd it’s gone,” captioning it, “Looking for the gold at Fort Knox…”
While no official plans have been announced, Trump hinted that he may join Musk on a visit to the facility. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, he reaffirmed his commitment to investigating the matter but did not offer a clear answer when asked where the gold might have gone.
“If the gold isn’t there, we’re going to be very upset,” Trump said.
Fort Knox, located in Kentucky, holds an estimated 147 million troy ounces of gold, which constitutes over half of the U.S. government’s total reserves, according to the Daily Mail. The U.S. Mint Police are responsible for guarding the facility.
Gold reserves serve as a financial safeguard against economic instability, acting as a hedge against inflation and maintaining confidence in the U.S. currency. However, the U.S. no longer operates on the gold standard, meaning the economy is no longer directly tied to the value of gold.
The last known inspection of Fort Knox took place in August 2017, when then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) led a small delegation, including then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, on a visit to the vault. A handful of black-and-white photographs from the visit were released, showing Mnuchin standing in front of stacks of gold bars.
He was the first Treasury Secretary to visit Fort Knox since 1948.
Prior to that, former President Franklin D. Roosevelt personally inspected the vault in 1943 amid concerns over national security during World War II.
In 1974, public speculation that the gold had been secretly removed led officials to grant a limited tour for members of Congress and the media, hoping to quell fears and assure the public that the reserves were intact.
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