WASHINGTON, May 28, 2026 — Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., renewed his push for an independent audit of the United States gold reserves at Fort Knox on Wednesday, posting on X that he is “still looking to audit Fort Knox” — more than 15 months after he sent a formal written request to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that went unanswered, and weeks after President Donald Trump said in a nationally televised interview that he personally wants to visit the vault to confirm the gold is there.
“I’m still looking to audit Fort Knox,” Paul wrote on X, responding to his own February 2025 post tagging Elon Musk in which he first publicly requested the audit.
Paul’s Formal Request — and Treasury’s Silence
On February 19, 2025, Paul — in his capacity as Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee — sent a formal letter to Bessent requesting a comprehensive audit of Fort Knox’s gold holdings, including physical testing of the metal and an in-person inspection by Paul and his staff, according to the letter published by the committee. Paul set a deadline of March 19, 2025 for Treasury to coordinate the inspection.
The letter noted that Fort Knox holds 147.3 million ounces of gold — more than half of total U.S. gold reserves — and that the depository had not been subject to a formal independent audit since 1974. Prior to a 2017 visit by then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, 42 years had elapsed since any civilian was allowed to enter and view the vault.
Treasury did not respond to the request by the March 19 deadline. Bessent told Bloomberg Television shortly after the audit push began that “we do an audit every year” and that “all the gold is there” — but that internal annual review is conducted by the Treasury Inspector General and the U.S. Mint, not by an independent outside auditor or by Congress.
Trump’s May 10 Interview
Paul’s Wednesday post came weeks after Trump revived the Fort Knox question in a May 10 interview with investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson on Full Measure, broadcast by Sinclair Broadcast Group. When Attkisson asked what happened to the audit Trump and Musk had discussed when Trump first returned to office, Trump acknowledged he “played with” the idea but hadn’t followed through.
“We wanted to go knock on the door of Fort Knox — a very thick door — and to see whether or not we have any gold in there,” Trump told Attkisson. “It’s a very interesting question. I wonder if they left the gold in Fort Knox, because they steal a lot.”
Trump added: “I do want to go to Fort Knox sometime. I want to see if the gold is there — which I’m sure it will be.”
The gold stored at Fort Knox carries an estimated value of approximately $700 billion at current market prices, representing roughly half of the U.S. government’s total gold supply of 261 million ounces held across multiple depositories including the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the West Point Mint.
The Legislative Push
Paul is not alone in Congress in pushing for a formal audit. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. — who lost his primary race on May 19 to Trump-backed challenger Ed Gallrein — introduced H.R. 3795, the Gold Reserve Transparency Act of 2025, which would require a full independent audit of all U.S. gold reserves. “I just introduced HR 3795, the Gold Reserve Transparency Act of 2025, to audit U.S. gold reserves,” Massie said when introducing the bill. “In February, President Trump said he wanted to go to Fort Knox to ‘make sure the gold is there.’ This bill provides the full disclosure President Trump seeks.” The bill has not advanced out of committee.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, has also pushed for access to Fort Knox, claiming he had “repeatedly” tried to access the base. Musk amplified the audit calls in early 2025, posting on X: “Who is confirming that gold wasn’t stolen from Fort Knox? Maybe it’s there, maybe it’s not. That gold is owned by the American public! We want to know if it’s still there.” Musk also suggested live streaming a video walkthrough of the vault.
What the Law Says — and the Last Real Audit
The United States Bullion Depository at Fort Knox has been the primary storage facility for U.S. gold reserves since 1937. The last comprehensive independent physical audit of Fort Knox’s gold occurred in 1974, when then-Treasury Secretary William Simon led a bipartisan congressional delegation through the vault — the first such visit since 1953. Treasury has since conducted internal annual inventories, but these have not involved the kind of independent physical testing and verification Paul and other lawmakers are requesting.
Federal law does not require an independent physical audit of the depository on any fixed schedule. Paul’s argument — consistent with his broader oversight mandate as Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman — is that annual internal reviews conducted by Treasury’s own agencies do not meet the standard of transparency that the American public deserves for assets worth $700 billion.
As of Wednesday, Treasury had still not formally responded to Paul’s February 2025 letter.
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