Whatever happened to President Trump's plan to inspect the gold at Fort Knox?

Christopher Leach, Lexington Herald-Leader on Jun 4, 2025

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A concerned and inquisitive President Donald Trump made headlines in February when he said he’d inspect the United States’ gold supply, housed at the U.S. Bullion Depository at Fort Knox, about 90 miles west of Lexington, Kentucky.

His concern: “Maybe somebody stole the gold.”

Elon Musk, Trump’s former budget-cutting adviser, and Republican senators encouraged Trump to check on the gold amid unfounded claims it was missing, according to the Associated Press. At a February event in Washington, Trump told Republican governors he was nervous about the status of Fort Knox gold.

“We’re getting a little bit shaky. We’re getting the yips on this stuff. Like I want to find out,” Trump said at a reception in Washington, D.C.., according to The Hill.

“We’re going to open up the doors. I’m going to see if we have gold there. Did anybody steal the gold in Fort Knox?”

The Herald-Leader’s original story on the Fort Knox visit was Feb. 21.

But nearly four months have passed since then, and there’s been no bullion buzz involving Trump and Fort Knox.

So did Trump, or any other high-ranking White House official, ever check on the country’s gold supply?

Nope.

There is no indication they have.

The Herald-Leader contacted several lawmakers and agencies about whether Trump had sought a visit, including representatives for the White House, Secretary of the US Treasury, Fort Knox officials, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Utah Sen. Mike Lee, a leading proponent of a visit to the depository.

Lee’s communications director, Billy Gribbin, said the Utah senator has not visited Fort Knox but looks forward to doing so at the earliest opportunity.

No one else responded to questions about whether a Trump visit had materialized except for Beshear’s office.

“For your planning purposes, I recommend you reach out to the White House for questions related to the President,” Crystal Staley, director of communications for Beshear’s office, said over an email.

About half of the Treasury’s gold is stored at the depository, according to the US Mint. The depository holds 147.3 million ounces of gold, along with other valuables of other federal agencies.

The amount of gold stored at the depository is worth about $435 billion, according to Barron’s. Other large quantities of the U.S.’ gold is stored at the Denver Mint and West Point Mint.

The depository operates on a strict no-visitor policy and has been opened only twice to non-authorized personnel, according to officials at the US Mint.

The tight security has led to decades of rumors.

In 1974, journalists and a Congressional delegation viewed the reserves amid rumors that the gold had been removed. In 2017, then-Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, then-Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin and members of Congress also visited the vaults.

The latest round of rumors began with Alex Jones, a right-wing radio host known for spreading conspiracy theories, according to NBC News.

Jones, perhaps most known for being ordered to pay $1.5 billion for repeatedly claiming a fatal 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School was a hoax, claimed the country’s gold supply had been sent overseas over the past 40 years.

After Trump adopted the claim and said he planned to visit Fort Knox, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Don O’Donnell, host of the right-wing Dan O’Donnell Show, that the gold was still at the facility.

Bessent also told O’Donnell he would be happy to host senators interested in inspecting the facility.

“We do an audit every year, so (for) the audit that ended the year Sept. 30, 2024, all the gold is present and accounted for,” Bessent told O’Donnell in February.

Only small quantities of gold have been removed from the depository for testing during regular audits, according to the Mint. No other gold has been transferred to or from the facility for many years.

While Trump’s is-the-gold-still-there speculation garnered national attention, at least one media outlet at the time predicted he’d never show up.

The “silly spectacle of a vault visit” makes no sense when advisers and Fort Knox officials can easily confirm gold is still in Kentucky,” said a writer at US News and World Report.

But it would provide “can’t-miss stagecraft,” the publication predicted. The visit would be “catnip for television.”

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