On February 17, global media spread sensational news: the team of the 47th President of the United States is planning to inspect Fort Knox. The announcement was made by the key figure in Trump’s team, Elon Musk, who has taken charge of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Less than a month after its establishment, Musk, as head of DOGE, has already caused quite a stir.
Musk’s statement was likely triggered by Senator Rand Paul, the son of the legendary Ron Paul—an American politician who served multiple terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and ran for president several times. Ron Paul, who turns 90 this year, left Capitol Hill in 2013. He was a staunch critic of the Federal Reserve, advocating for its reform or even abolition. He wrote a book titled End the Fed, which was translated into Russian and published in Russia. Ron Paul also pushed for the restoration of the gold standard in the U.S. (which was abandoned in the early 1970s) and called for an audit of the U.S. gold reserves—particularly at Fort Knox, where most of the gold was officially stored. His last call for an independent audit of Fort Knox was in 2010.
Rand Paul followed in his father’s footsteps. In 2011, he became a U.S. senator from Kentucky and, as of January 3, 2025, chairs the Senate Committee on Homeland Security. He is a Republican and a supporter of President Donald Trump.
On the evening of February 15, the blog Zerohedge (with around 2 million followers) posted on X that it would be great if Elon Musk checked Fort Knox, just to make sure that 4,580 tons of American gold are actually there. The last time anyone looked was 50 years ago, in 1974.
The post quickly gained over 3 million views, and Musk immediately responded: “Surely it’s inspected at least once a year?” To which Senator Rand Paul replied: “No. Let’s do it.” Paul has repeatedly called for an audit of the U.S. gold reserves in the past.
Then, early on February 18, Musk posted another message on X: “Who is confirming that gold wasn’t stolen from Fort Knox? Maybe it’s there, maybe it’s not. That gold is owned by the American public! We want to know if it’s still there.” The tone of his post suggests that Musk is serious about auditing Fort Knox. His initial reaction—”Surely it’s inspected at least once a year?”—revealed his lack of prior knowledge on the issue. But now, as he digs deeper, he may realize that not only Fort Knox but all U.S. gold reserves need to be audited.
For years, the U.S. gold reserves have remained officially unchanged—8,134 tons. Fort Knox holds 4,583 tons (56.3%), with the rest stored in Denver (1,364 tons), West Point (1,682 tons), and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (418 tons). An additional 87 tons are kept in smaller vaults.
The history of Fort Knox as the main U.S. gold depository dates back to 1934, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Gold Reserve Act. The Treasury needed a new storage facility for the massive influx of gold it had confiscated from American citizens and institutions. Construction of Fort Knox was announced in 1935, completed rapidly, and gold shipments began in 1937. By 1941, Fort Knox held 12,956 metric tons—about two-thirds of all U.S. gold reserves at the time.
Since the 1950s, U.S. gold reserves have steadily declined. When President Richard Nixon suspended the gold convertibility of the dollar in 1971, reserves had dropped to 8,133.5 tons—about a third of their peak level of over 20,000 tons.
No comprehensive audit of U.S. gold reserves has been conducted since the early 1950s. The last known “inspection” of Fort Knox occurred in September 1974, led by U.S. Mint Director Mary Brooks. Skeptics argue it was more of a publicity stunt than a real audit, involving a brief two-hour tour for journalists and lawmakers, where only about 6% of the reserves were viewed. No bars were weighed, tested, or verified against official records. Some even question whether the gold belongs to the U.S. government, as at that time, Fort Knox also stored foreign gold later moved to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Some Americans naively believe that Fort Knox is audited annually, but what was called an “audit” in the media was mostly symbolic. From 1975 to 1986, inspections only checked the seals on storage vaults. Even this ceased in 1986 when a single seal was placed on the entire facility.
Another so-called audit occurred on August 21, 2017, when Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin briefly visited Fort Knox. He spent only a few hours there and only entered one of the 13 vaults. Upon returning to Washington, he reported, “I saw the gold in Fort Knox. It’s there. No doubts or concerns needed.” His vague statement puzzled many. A real audit would require counting, weighing, and testing the bars, as well as verifying their serial numbers against official records. Some even speculate that Fort Knox holds not gold bars but tungsten bars merely coated in gold.
There have been multiple attempts to audit the U.S. gold reserves, with Ron Paul introducing several bills in Congress—all unsuccessful. The latest attempt was in 2021 when Representative Alex Mooney introduced a bill calling for an audit. In June 2021, he wrote to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urging support for the bill, but it was blocked in its first hearing.
Some believe that Trump himself encouraged Rand Paul and Elon Musk’s push for a Fort Knox audit. Why? Possibly to use the gold reserves to address urgent financial problems—especially the massive federal deficit and national debt, which now exceeds $36 trillion. Trump has expressed concerns about this issue, even joking that he might pay off the debt using cryptocurrency.
For decades, the U.S. gold reserve was considered insignificant in monetary terms because it was still valued at an outdated price of $42 per ounce. However, with gold now exceeding $2,900 per ounce and likely to surpass $3,000 soon, revaluing the gold reserves would add nearly $800 billion to the government’s balance sheet. Trump advisors have floated ideas such as selling gold to buy foreign currencies (weakening the dollar to boost exports) or issuing gold-backed Treasury bonds.