Debunking the Treasury’s Latest Claim About America’s Gold
With gold soaring past $3,300, it feels like the perfect moment to revisit a topic many of us haven’t forgotten: the gold at Fort Knox—and whether it’s actually still there.
And as it happens, something caught my eye that makes this question even more timely.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently gave an interview with Bloomberg, where he confidently stated that there’s a report confirming the gold is indeed there at Fort Knox. What’s more, Bessent also claimed they audit the gold every single year.
Take a listen/watch below.
Here’s the gist, if you’d rather read:
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: I don’t have any plans [to visit Kentucky]. I can tell you that we do an audit every year. I can tell the American people on camera right now that there was a report—September 30th, 2024—all the gold is there. Any U.S. senator who wants to come and visit can arrange a visit through our office.
Good to know, right? Except there’s one problem:
That’s a big, fat lie.
Now, before you dismiss this as just more internet sensationalism—after all, if anyone should know whether the gold is still there, it’s the Treasury Secretary—just hear me out…
But first, a little backstory so we’re all on the same page.
What We’re Supposed to Believe
According to the U.S. Mint, which operates under the Department of the Treasury, the government holds roughly 274 million troy ounces of gold. About 147 million troy ounces, or 54%, is reportedly stored at Fort Knox.
For the uninitiated, Fort Knox—officially the U.S. Bullion Depository—is a heavily fortified vault next to the Army post of the same name in Kentucky.
God knows, over the years, Fort Knox has stirred up enough skepticism to make even the most trusting minds do a double take. And when there’s this much smoke, it’s only natural to wonder about fire.
Theories abound. Some say President Lyndon B. Johnson shipped tons of gold to London in the 1960s. Others believe large amounts were leased out to foreign entities or banks, turning Fort Knox into an empty shell—a symbolic confidence game meant to uphold faith in the dollar.
Then there’s the most unsettling version: maybe the gold is still there… but it’s not ours. According to this theory, much of the gold is foreign-owned—deposited here during WWII and never reclaimed, with the U.S. quietly acting as custodian.
Now, you might ask: why do these rumors keep coming back?
Simple. Because there hasn’t been a proper audit of Fort Knox in decades.
So… About That 2024 “Audit”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, of course, disagrees. As you saw in the video above, he insists the gold at Fort Knox is audited every year—and points to a report dated September 30th, 2024, as the latest example.
So what’s actually going on?
Well, let’s take a look at the document he’s referring to.
Here’s what the auditors actually wrote:
The Department of Treasury schedules of gold reserves as of September 30th of 2024—we found that the Treasury schedules of US gold reserves are presented fairly.
Translation? They reviewed the schedules of gold reserves—not the gold itself.
Let that sink in.
They didn’t inspect, weigh, or test a single bar at Fort Knox. They reviewed a spreadsheet.
And that spreadsheet? It’s essentially this, from page 8 of the report:
This isn’t an audit of the physical gold. It’s an accounting exercise—a restatement of what the Treasury already has on the books.
Of course, the whole thing becomes even more meaningless when you realize the official “book value” of U.S. gold hasn’t changed since 1973. It’s still marked at $42.22 per ounce—which, as I explained in a previous piece, is the outdated statutory price the Treasury still uses. That’s why the numbers haven’t budged from 2023 to 2024.
That’s not to say this was a demanding task. The entire report runs just 20 pages—table of contents, a few summary tables, and some boilerplate language. That’s it. Nothing ChatGPT couldn’t crank out in a few minutes. If you want to examine it for yourself, I’ve included a link [here].
But this is the report that Scott Bessent points to as evidence of an “annual audit.”
So I have to ask: Why is the Treasury Secretary trying to pass this off as a real audit?
Because it’s not. Not even close.
What an Actual Audit Would Look Like
Let’s say, just for fun, we wanted to actually audit the gold at Fort Knox.
Here’s what we’d be up against:
- There are 368,250 gold bars reportedly stored at Fort Knox.
- Each bar weighs about 27.4 pounds.
- The gold is housed in 13 small compartments, each roughly 6 feet wide, 12 feet deep, and 8 feet high.
In other words, there’s no room for forklifts or large teams—the space was intentionally designed to be cramped for security reasons.
So any real audit would require a small team—let’s say 20 people—working in tight quarters to verify every single bar. That’s 18,412 gold bars per person. And each bar would need to be counted, weighed, and visually inspected.
Experts estimate it would take at least 18 months to complete. Possibly longer if any discrepancies are found (which would require re-checking, paperwork, and verification).
Bessent’s 2024 “audit”? None of this happened.
They didn’t audit the gold. They audited a schedule—a glorified Excel sheet pulled from the Treasury’s own database.
Now, in case you’re wondering, the last true inspection of the Fort Knox gold was back in 1953, under President Eisenhower. Even that was just a spot check—only 5–7% of the gold was actually examined.
There was also a notable photo-op in 1974, when the Treasury opened Fort Knox to about 100 journalists and members of Congress following rumors the vault was empty. Cameras rolled, gold bars were displayed, and everyone left with a souvenir sound bite.
But nothing was weighed. Nothing was assayed. No serial numbers were matched.
One radio reporter summed it up best:
All I can say is that I saw gold in there.
That same year, the Treasury and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) launched what they called a “continuing audit program.” From 1975 to 1981, they conducted annual reviews of small portions of the gold.
By 1981, they claimed no discrepancies had been found. But even then, only about 80% of the gold was reportedly verified.
After that? The audits quietly stopped.
So when people are skeptical about whether the gold is still there, or whether it even belongs to us anymore—you know what?
They have every right to be.
And when the Treasury Secretary goes on national media and tries to spin an internal schedule review as a full-blown audit?
That only fuels the suspicion.
I know it does for me.
Regards,
Lau Vegys
P.S. Now, with both President Trump and Elon Musk publicly calling for an audit of Fort Knox, it might actually happen this time—and that would be a good thing. If you’ve read Matt Smith’s report about Trump’s coming reset and gold’s central role in it, you’ll probably agree—there are plenty of reasons to do it right now.
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