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Trump reveals real reason he wanted Fort Knox gold reserve audit with Elon Musk; ‘we played with…’
Donald Trump said he and Elon Musk “played with” Fort Knox gold theft claims but hinted the reserve remains intact.
President Donald Trump and his once-close ally Elon Musk made a major issue out of the current status of the federal government's gold reserve at the Fort Knox base in Kentucky, after they rode to victory in the 2024 US election.
Trump and Musk, who have now parted ways, spread unverified speculations on social media that the gold at Fort Knox might have been "stolen." They said that they plan to go and inspect the status of the reserve - a discussion that dominated headlines for a couple of days.
Nearly two years after Trump was elected POTUS, the issue has taken a backseat in the 79-year-old's agenda. But on Sunday, the issue again came up during Trump's interview on "Full Measure" with Sharyl Attkisson.
When asked about the prospect of an audit of the Fort Knox gold reserve, Trump said he and Elon Musk "played with" the issue.
"We wanted to go knock on the door and see whether or not we have any gold in there," Trump said. "We played with that. I wonder if they left the gold in Fort Knox, because they steal a lot. I do want to go to Fort Knox sometime."
Indirectly, the POTUS assured that the gold is still in place, as was reported when the issue first emerged.
What Trump And Elon Musk Had Said About The Fort Knox Gold
On February 17, 2025, Elon Musk posted on X speculating about the status of the gold reserve at the Godman Army Airfield at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Notably, a vault underneath the air base hold the gold, which accounts for more than half of the US's entire gold reserve. It holds roughly 9.2 million lbs. of gold valued at $6.2 billion, as of May 2026.
"Who is confirming that gold wasn’t stolen from Fort Knox?" Musk wrote. "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."
Trump picked up on the issue fueling speculations around the Biden administration. He said that he and Musk would inspect Fort Knox to "make sure the gold is still there" in a speech to Republican governors on February 21, 2025.
"We're going to open up the doors... I don't want to open it and the cupboards are bare." he had said. "Did anybody steal the gold in Fort Knox?"
Notably, it is not clear when the gold reserve at Fort Knox was audited. Time to time, hoaxes and speculations about the gold reserve has circulated. For instance, in 1974, a group of journalists and Congressional delegations visited the facility to check on it. In 2017, then Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin visited the Fort Knox gold reserve to check its status.
