As leader of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk last week suggested that 89-year-old former Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX), author of the 2009 book End the Fed, become the new chair of the Federal Reserve during the second Trump administration.
Paul’s son, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), is now encouraging President Donald Trump and Musk to audit the country’s gold reserve at Fort Knox, after a user on X opined, “would be great if @elonmusk could take a look inside Fort Knox just to make sure the 4,580 tons of US gold is there. Last time anyone looked was 50 years ago in 1974.”
Musk replied, “Surely it’s reviewed at least every year?” and Rand Paul replied, “Nope. Let’s do it.”
Nope. Let’s do it. https://t.co/4sgVpaCwwz
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) February 16, 2025
Note: In 2011, Ron Paul introduced legislation to have the famous fort in Louisville audited. The U.S. Mint says Fort Knox houses approximately 9.2 million pounds worth of gold, which is about half of the Treasury’s reserve gold.
[Paul claimed at the time that the “Treasury Department has been less than transparent with the results of its gold audits. It is asking the American people to trust that all the gold is there, while not allowing site visits and not publishing all the data it holds on its audits and assays.”]
Despite the concerns of Musk and Paul, the Fort Knox gold hasn’t gone without any attention all this time.
While Trump’s new Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has yet to release an announcement regarding a potential future audit of Fort Knox, his predecessor from the first Trump administration, former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, has visited the bullion depository and held a bar of government-owned gold.
Mitch McConnell and Steve Mnuchin visited Fort Knox in 2017.
— Jordan Schachtel @ dossier.today (@JordanSchachtel) February 17, 2025
These are the pictures they released to "reassure" Americans that all of the claimed gold is still there.
Might be time to audit! pic.twitter.com/FzvFF8568W
In August 2017, Mnuchin and a few other officials including Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) were treated to a tour of the depository, traveling there in an Air Force C-37B aircraft at a cost of $26,900.25.
The trip coincided with a solar eclipse for which Kentucky was a popular viewing spot, leading to suspicions that the trip may have been an excuse to see the natural phenomenon. It was scrutinized afterwards by the department’s inspector general who found no evidence of wrongdoing.
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