Trump Says ‘We’re Going to Go Into Fort Knox to Make Sure the Gold Is There’

The U.S. Bullion Depository at Fort Knox, Ky., on Feb. 27, 2014. Luke Sharrett/Getty Images

President Donald Trump on Feb. 19 backed Elon Musk’s plan to audit the gold reserves at Fort Knox.

“We’re going to go into Fort Knox to make sure the gold is there,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “You know that we’re going to go into Fort Knox? Did you know about that?”

Billionaire Elon Musk, one of Trump’s advisers, recently suggested verifying that Fort Knox still holds the gold that officials say it does.

“This gold is the property of the American people. I sure hope it’s still there!” Musk wrote recently on social media platform X, which he owns.

Musk has been helping lead the Trump administration’s efforts to review government spending and possible fraud.

Fort Knox holds 147.3 million ounces of gold, according to the U.S. Mint. That’s about half of the U.S. Department of Treasury’s gold reserves.

Gold is currently selling at roughly $3,000 an ounce.

The U.S. Mint said that no visitors are permitted at the facility, which is in Kentucky.

Some members of Congress have said that they have tried visiting the fort to look at the gold but were denied.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) wrote on X: “Fort Knox: ‘You can’t come to Fort Knox.’ Me: ‘Why?’ Fort Knox: ‘It’s a military installation.’ Me: ‘I’m a senator; I go to military bases all the time.’ Fort Knox: ‘You still can’t come. Because, you can’t.’”

Fort Knox and the U.S. Mint did not return requests for comment.

“We hope everything’s fine with Fort Knox, but we’re going to go to Fort Knox ... to make sure the gold is there,” Trump told reporters. “If the gold isn’t there, we’re going to be very upset.”

Some outside groups have been advocating for an audit of the gold reserves. The Sound Money Defense League, for instance, says that the reserves at Fort Knox and other facilities should be audited.

“There are legitimate questions about the status of America’s gold holdings,” Jp Cortez, executive director of the organization, told The Epoch Times.

Journalists have not been allowed into Fort Knox since 1974. The only other time since then that “non-authorized personnel” have visited the vaults was in 2017, when then-Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Kentucky’s governor, and members of Congress toured the facility.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on a radio show on Feb. 19 that an audit of the gold is conducted every year.

“All the gold is present and accounted for,” he told Dan O'Donnell, the host.

Andrew Moran contributed to this report.