President Donald Trump said his administration goes to audit the U.S. gold reserves kept at Fort Knox in Kentucky.
“We will go to Fort Knox, the fabled Fort Knox, to make certain the gold is there,” Trump said Wednesday on Air Force One.
A drive to audit Fort Knox has gained steam from comments by Elon Musk on X recently. Over the past few many years, conspiracy theories have emerged now and again about whether the federal government is being truthful concerning the amount of gold stored there due to the fort’s high security.
The Treasury Department gives the precise amounts of the U.S. gold reserves on its website and says there are 147,341,858.382 troy ounces in Fort Knox.
“I believe if this administration presses for an audit, that’ll be a superb thing for everyone,” said Alamos Gold CEO John McCluskey on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin at Fort Knox, Kentucky in 2018.
Source: U.S. Treasury Department
Treasury officials have confirmed that the gold is there at Fort Knox. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday told a Wisconsin broadcaster that the Treasury does an audit every 12 months.
“All of the gold is present and accounted for,” Bessent said
In response to a matter from CNBC’s David Faber on “Squawk on the Street” on whether there’s gold at Fort Knox, former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said: “The gold was there after I visited it. I hope no person’s moved it. I’m sure they have not.”
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Bessent’s comments from earlier this month, to “monetize the asset side of the U.S. balance sheet for the American people” also added to recent investor speculation that the U.S. government should audit its gold reserves and maybe revalue them. The Treasury Department’s current gold holdings are priced at $42 per ounce, a level that is ready by law and hasn’t modified since 1973.
Spot gold on Thursday rose, hitting one other record high of $2,954.69 an oz. earlier within the session. That is bullion’s tenth record high of the 12 months.