Elon Musk To Be Granted Access To Fort Knox After Casting Doubt On Gold Reserves: 'Maybe It's There, Maybe It's Not'

President Donald Trump has repeatedly promised to bring the U.S. back into its "golden age." Now, Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Chair Elon Musk, the richest man alive, will be granted access to Fort Knox in Kentucky to make sure American gold reserves are still there.

Fort Knox's tightly sealed U.S. Bullion Depository currently stores 147.3 million troy ounces in gold— or more than half of the Treasury's total supply, Axios reports. The gold is held at a government-set book value of $42.22 per ounce.

The Depository is audited every year to ensure the gold is "present and accounted for," according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. But this year Musk wants to carry out the process himself, event hinting at a livestream of him walking through the facility.

Over the last several days Musk has placed heavy emphasis on the depository, demanding to know whether the gold is "still there."

"Who is confirming that gold wasn't stolen from Fort Knox?" he wrote Monday. "Maybe it's there, maybe it's not."

Likewise, responding to a post from far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones about a potential DOGE investigation into "missing gold" at Fort Knox, Musk said a "live video walkthrough" would be "cool."

President Trump seems to approve the idea. At a Thursday evening speech to Republican governors, Trump said "we're going to open up the doors. We're going to inspect Fort Knox."

"I don't want to open it and the cupboards are bare," he added.

The United States Bullion Depository at Fort Knox has stored precious metal bullion reserves for the United States since 1937 and has become synonyms for secure and well protected. Along with protecting gold reserves, Fort Knox is currently also used as the Army's human resources command center, and it hosts the Army's largest annual training event each summer, according to CBS News.

Camp Knox was established during World War I and became an artillery training center, according to the Army's post's website. It was made a permanent installation in 1932 and has been known since then as Fort Knox. The first gold arrived at Fort Knox in 1937 with the 1st Cavalry Regiment called on to guard the shipment.

Nevertheless, the fortified vaults have been the subject of increasing skepticism, since no visitors are permitted in the facility, and its doors have only been opened to unauthorized personnel a handful of times, Axios reports. In fact, this century, non-authorized personnel have only been invited to the vaults once.

In 2017, during Trump's first term, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and others took a trip to see the stash.

"If the gold isn't there, we're going to be very upset," Trump said this week.