Sen. Rand Paul finally got his look inside Fort Knox on Monday, and he emerged with an answer to a question that has periodically fueled speculation for decades: Yes, the gold is still there.
The Kentucky Republican documented his visit to the Treasury Department’s bullion depository at the U.S. Army post roughly 40 miles southwest of Louisville.
“I’m at Fort Knox. We’ve come to see the gold. Our country has about 147 million ounces of gold, and about half of it is stored here at Fort Knox,” Paul said in a video before entering the facility.
At Fort Knox, we’ve come to see the gold!
Our country has about a hundred and forty-seven million ounces of gold, and about half of it is stored here at Fort Knox.
We’re gonna be going deep underground to see the gold, but more importantly, we’re gonna be talking today about… pic.twitter.com/qNtHkVMQzg
— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) August 10, 2026
But confirming the existence of the gold was only part of Paul’s mission. He used the unusual visit to make a broader argument about the dollar, inflation, federal deficits and what happened after the United States severed the dollar’s formal link to gold.
“We’re going to be going deep underground to see the gold, but more importantly, we’re going to be talking about what happened to the dollar when we separated from gold in 1971,” Paul said. “Over 85 percent of the value of the dollar has been lost since we de-linked from gold.”
The United States formally ended the dollar’s convertibility into gold under President Richard Nixon in 1971, moving toward the modern fiat currency system. Under that system, dollars are no longer redeemable for a fixed quantity of physical gold.
Supporters of the old gold standard have long argued that linking currency to a finite asset puts restraints on monetary expansion. Critics counter that those same restraints can limit policymakers’ ability to respond to recessions and financial crises.
Paul clearly came down on the side of restraint.
“So there is a problem. The media now calls this affordability, but what it really is is inflation,” he said.
Paul connected rising prices to Washington’s chronic deficit spending and Federal Reserve policy.
I visited Fort Knox today.
The dollar has lost 97% of its purchasing power since the Fed opened in 1913. $100 then is worth just over $3,300 today.
This is no accident. Congress spends without limit, while the Fed prints the difference. https://t.co/TmeJw3ZkJv
— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) August 10, 2026
“We run a debt. As the deficit runs up — $2 trillion a year — part of that debt is bought by the Federal Reserve with newly created dollars,” Paul said. “This leads to inflation, and prices are up.”
He added that prices had increased roughly 25 percent over the previous five years and blamed inflation on deficit spending and unbalanced federal budgets.
Then came the part that had attracted plenty of attention beforehand.
“I’m going down underground, and I’ll let you know what I see in a little bit,” Paul told his followers.
He did.
“Yes, the gold is there, all (approximately) 147 million ounces,” Paul posted afterward. “It is impressive, but the real point is what it still teaches in 2026.”
Paul had been seeking access to Fort Knox since at least February 2025, when he sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent requesting a tour. His interest coincided with renewed public discussion over whether the nation’s famous gold stockpile should receive greater scrutiny.
That discussion received a considerable boost from Elon Musk during his work with the Department of Government Efficiency.
“Who is confirming that gold wasn’t stolen from Fort Knox?” Musk asked on social media in February 2025. “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.”
President Donald Trump also publicly entertained the question that month.
“We’re actually going to Fort Knox to see if the gold is there, because maybe somebody stole the gold,” Trump told reporters. “Tons of gold.”
Paul has now seen it for himself.
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. https://t.co/aEBXK1CfD6
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 17, 2025
He also used the occasion to revive one of his longstanding criticisms of federal monetary and fiscal policy, writing that the dollar has lost 97 percent of its purchasing power since the Federal Reserve opened in 1913.
“This is no accident,” Paul wrote. “Congress spends without limit, while the Fed prints the difference.”
Fort Knox is not the only location holding a major portion of the nation’s gold. The U.S. Mint facility at West Point, New York, has also held tens of millions of ounces, making it another major repository for U.S. gold reserves.
Still, Fort Knox remains the name most Americans associate with the country’s bullion, and after years of occasional speculation about what is actually sitting behind its formidable security, Paul got his chance to go inside.
His verdict was simple: the gold is there.
