Sen. Rand Paul said Monday that he personally inspected the gold stored at Fort Knox and found the reserves present, while using the visit to argue that decades of deficit spending and monetary expansion have sharply eroded the purchasing power of the U.S. dollar.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., emerged from an inspection of the U.S. Bullion Depository at Fort Knox on Monday saying the gold was there and describing the visit as an opportunity to draw attention to inflation, federal deficits and the long-term decline in the dollar’s purchasing power.
Paul traveled to the northern Kentucky facility to inspect the nation’s gold holdings, saying the United States possesses roughly 147 million ounces of gold and that about half is stored at Fort Knox.
“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 before entering the facility.
He said his larger purpose was to examine what he views as the monetary consequences of the United States moving away from gold-backed currency.
“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. Over 85 percent of the value of the dollar has been lost since we de-linked from gold,” Paul said.
“So there is a problem. The media now calls this affordability, but what it really is is inflation.”
Paul linked rising prices to federal borrowing, deficit spending and the creation of new money by the Federal Reserve.
“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. This leads to inflation, and prices are up,” he said. “Prices are up 25 percent in the last five years. It’s inflation. It’s related to deficit spending. It’s related to unbalanced budgets.”
Before beginning the underground inspection, Paul said, “I’m going down underground, and I’ll let you know what I see in a little bit.”
Afterward, Paul said the reserves he expected to see were present.
“Yes, the gold is there all (approximately) 147 million ounces. It is impressive, but the real point is what it still teaches in 2026,” Paul said later Monday.
His remarks and video from the visit were shared through an X post.
Paul later expanded his argument by comparing the value of the dollar today with its purchasing power when the Federal Reserve was established.
“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,” Paul said.
That statement was also distributed through a second X post.
Fort Knox has long attracted public attention because of the enormous quantity of government-owned gold held at the heavily secured facility and the limited opportunities for outside inspection.
According to the U.S. Mint, the last full audit of the U.S. gold reserves stored at Fort Knox occurred in 1953. A partial audit was conducted in 1974.
The long intervals between publicized inspections have fueled speculation over the decades about whether all of the gold remains in the depository, including unverified claims that some bars had been replaced with gold-plated tungsten.
Paul’s visit offered his own direct observation of the facility. After going underground and inspecting the holdings, the Kentucky senator said the gold was present while shifting the focus of his remarks toward what he sees as the broader lesson of U.S. monetary policy and government spending.
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