Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on July 15 that all the gold in Fort Knox is “present and accounted for.”
Early last year, President Donald Trump and trillionaire Elon Musk said officials would investigate Fort Knox, the Kentucky-based facility that stores U.S. gold reserves.
Fort Knox has been a source of controversy for years, with critics questioning whether more than 100 million troy ounces of gold bars are still there.
In an interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters on July 14, Bessent noted that he had not been to Fort Knox.
“The treasurer has been to Fort Knox,” he said. “I am happy to say all gold is present and accounted for. The United States has the largest pile of gold in the world, over a trillion dollars at current market value.”
He also noted that the United States went off the gold standard in the 1970s.
“We just went to what was called fiat currency, where you didn’t have to keep gold or silver in the vault,” Bessent said.
“If any of these are still outstanding, though, the silver or gold for them is at Fort Knox waiting for them to be claimed if so needed.”
However, redemptions for physical gold ended around 1934 and for silver in 1968.
This comes nearly two months after the president told “Full Measure with Sheryl Attkisson” that his administration would enter Fort Knox to determine whether there was any gold there.
“We played with that. I wonder if they left the gold in Fort Knox because they steal a lot,” Trump said in a May 10 interview.
“I do want to go to Fort Knox. I want to see if the gold is there, which I’m sure it will be.”
Days later, the president said on Truth Social that it is “time to physically audit Fort Knox.”
Despite Trump’s comments, Bessent has repeatedly pushed back against various theories about Fort Knox.
He told Bloomberg Television last year that a government audit is conducted annually, citing the Treasury’s Office of Inspector General, which was published in October 2024.
The U.S. Mint also frequently releases an account summary of U.S. monetary gold reserves.
Congressional Skepticism
Members of Congress have also been critical of Fort Knox.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) introduced a bill last summer—the Gold Reserve Transparency Act of 2025—that would mandate the Comptroller General to conduct and publish a full audit of the nation’s gold reserves.
It was referred to the House Committee on Financial Services, and the legislation has not moved anywhere.
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.’”
Sound Money Defense League, a public policy group, has backed the president’s calls to review the contents of Fort Knox.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during a press briefing at the White House on May 28, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times
“It is long past time for an audit of America’s gold, which hasn’t been credibly done for many decades,” Jp Cortez, executive director of the Sound Money Defense League, said in a statement to The Epoch Times.
“Americans deserve to know that this strategic monetary asset is fully accounted for and unencumbered by any claims against it.”
Brief History of Fort Knox
It was established in 1918 and became a permanent military post in 1932.
The gold vault itself was built in 1936 to safeguard America’s reserves, with the first shipments arriving in 1937 from New York and Philadelphia.
Holdings originate from several sources, including international settlements, mining, and government purchases.
The storage also contains gold from domestic seizures in the 1930s.
In 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ordered Americans to turn in their gold coins, bullion, and certificates for $20.67 an ounce.
After the government collected that gold, it raised the official price to $35 under the 1934 Gold Reserve Act, locking in a substantial profit.
Gold prices have fallen substantially since reaching an all-time high of about $5,600 per ounce earlier this year, down about 25 percent to around $4,000.
