Musk Wants to Audit Fort Knox Gold That Has Hidden for 50 Years

Elon Musk, an advisor to US President Donald Trump, is interested in an audit of the US gold reserves, which has not been done since the 1970s. He is also in favor of an audit of the Federal Reserve. These are landmark events, the results of which could cause major upheavals in the financial world.

Elon Musk, the de facto head of the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), responded to ZeroHedge’s Xi post calling on Musk to audit the US’s more than 4,500 tons of gold reserves at Fort Knox. “The last time it was inspected was 50 years ago in 1974,” wrote news portal ZeroHedge.

It 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.

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) February 15, 2025

Musk responded with a question of his own: “Surley it’s [Fort Knox] reviewed at least every year?”

Then Kentucky Senator Rand Paul replied to Musk: “Nope. Let’s do it.”

Nope. Let’s do it. https://t.co/4sgVpaCwwz

— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) February 16, 2025

“It would be really cool to do a live video of the Fort Knox walkthrough!” Musk later wrote in response to Senator Mike Lee’s post.

As a U.S. senator I’ve tried repeatedly to get into Fort Knox

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.” https://t.co/3V2jlU4SNX

— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) February 17, 2025

After that, speculation began to mount that DOGE would probably also undertake an audit of Fort Knox at some point. According to the World Gold Council, the US gold reserves amount to 8,133 tons, and Fort Knox contains a total of 4,580 tons of gold, according to the US Mint. This is about 2% of the gold mined in the world’s history. However, a full audit has not been conducted at Fort Knox since 1974, and only selected people have been able to visit it over the years.

The US is the world’s largest gold holder, and the news has sparked calls for an audit of the Bank of England’s gold reserves. It is reported that the waiting lists for investors holding gold at the Bank of England (United Kingdom) have become very long to receive physical gold. It has also raised questions about whether the Bank of England has enough gold.

Rand Paul also spoke about the US gold reserves on Fox News Monday. “I think some people don’t think there’s a need for constant auditing, but the more sunlight and transparency, the better. It also highlights that gold continues to have value, and that in turn supports the value of the dollar.”

“That’s why we don’t sell gold,” Paul added. “We have gold, the IMF has gold, the World Bank has gold. Central banks around the world have gold, and that shows that the dollar has at least some collateral.”

DOGE May End Up in a “Nest of Worms”

Jim Rickards, a longtime investment banker with close ties to U.S. finance, said the audit would help restore U.S. citizens’ confidence in the government. “But there’s no reason to assume there’s a shortage of gold,” he explained.

However, he says it is worth investigating how much of this gold has been lent or leased for a fee. According to Rickards, this is one way in which more gold could be brought into the banking system and used as collateral to create more “paper gold.”

“This is a nest of worms that only a handful of experts understand. The government certainly didn’t want to bring this to light. DOGE could end up in a real nest of worms,”

he explained.

Adrian Ash, head of research at BullionVault, told Newsweek that if the audit were to show gold reserves were lower than promised, it would further boost gold prices. However, the impact would not be very large, as there are already shortages in the metal markets.

The Federal Reserve Also Needs an Audit

Rand Paul’s father, Ron Paul, who is now retired from politics, has consistently questioned the existence of the US gold reserves for decades. Musk has even suggested that Paul could be the next head of the Federal Reserve.

Paul has also been advocating for decades for an audit of the Federal Reserve

In general, he is actually in favour of dismantling the central bank. He believes that interest rates should be determined by supply and demand in the market and that the Federal Reserve should not have the power to create money as it currently does. He also supports the restoration of a gold-backed monetary system.

“Everything in government should be transparent and understandable to people. There are no exceptions, including, and especially, the Federal Reserve,” Musk said.