Washington DC: US President Donald Trump said on Friday (local time) that he is going to inspect Fort Knox to make sure that the 400 tonnes of gold is there.
As per the NY Post, citing US officials, it noted that the famed Fort Knox Bullion Depository's vaults in north-central Kentucky is a home to 147.3 million ounces of gold -- more than half of the Treasury Department's gold reserves, according to officials.
NY Post further added that if the accounting is correct, the repository should have the equivalent of nearly 3,70,000 standard-sized gold bars.
Notably, Fort Knox has held much of America's gold reserves since 1937 thereby becomes an important location for the US.
Delivering the remarks while addressing the Republican Governors Association (RGA) meeting on Friday (local time), Trump said, "I'm going to do something... All my life I've heard about Fort Knox. That's where the gold is kept, right? We're getting the yips on this stuff. I want to find out. So we're going to open up the doors. I'm going to see if we have gold there. We want to find out. Did anybody steal the gold in Fort Knox? It's a pretty amazing place. But I'm going to actually go. We're going to open the doors. We're going to inspect Fort Knox. We want to make sure that we actually have, you know, 400 tons of gold or whatever the hell it is. It's a lot of gold."
Earlier on Wednesday Trump said that he and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) would find out if Fort Knox's famous gold bars have gone missing as they continue an ongoing review of federal assets and spending.
The remarks by the US President comes after Rand Paul, Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs wrote a letter on February 19 to Secretary of Treasury, Bessent, wherein he enquired about the United States Mint and the United States Bullion Depository at Fort Knox, Kentucky.
In his letter he said, "According to the Department, Fort Knox holds 147.3 million ounces of gold.' Despite holding over half of total U.S. gold reserves, Fort Knox has not been subject to a formal audit since 1974.3 Prior to a visit by Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and others in 2017, forty-two years had elapsed since a civilian was allowed to enter and view the gold vault. While the 2017 visit was a good first step, the Mint must commit itself to be subject to regular oversight procedures."
In his letter he requested for an audit of Fort Knox along with giving a call for testing the gold held there.
"As one of Kentucky's U.S. Senators and Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which is responsible for oversight of all taxpayer-funded operations, including the Mint and the Depository, I request an audit of the Mint's holdings, including testing of the gold. I further ask for in-person inspection of the entire Depository and other holdings to be conducted by my staff and me. Please coordinate with my office to arrange for such in-person inspection as soon as possible but no later than March 19, 2025," he said. (ANI)