- U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has once again assured the public that America's gold reserves remain fully intact, pushing back against years of speculation surrounding the legendary vaults at Fort Knox. In a Fox News interview with Jesse Watters that aired Monday night, Bessent reiterated his standing assurance that every ounce of the nation's bullion is "present and accounted for" - while making no plans to visit the Kentucky depository himself.
"I am happy to say all gold is present and accounted for. The U.S. has the largest pile of gold in the world, over a trillion dollars, at current market value," Bessent told Watters.
His comments come amid renewed calls from lawmakers and gold advocates for a comprehensive, independent audit - the first large-scale public verification since 1974.
But as ZH contributor Phoenix Capital Research notes, Bessent prefaced his comment with something even more interesting...
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared on Fox News business yesterday. During the conversation with Jesse Waters, he made several key statements.
One of them… “we [the $USD] used to be backed by silver, sometimes gold.”
And a few moments later regarding Fort Knox…
“all gold is present and account for… the U.S. has the largest pile of gold in the world, over a $1 trillion at current market value.”
Officially, the United States holds the world's largest gold stockpile, valued at more than $1 trillion at current market prices. According to Treasury data, the Fort Knox depository alone contains 147,341,858.382 fine troy ounces of gold - roughly 56% of the federal government's total reserves, and about 59% of the bullion held in the Mint's deep storage. Additional holdings are stored at West Point, Denver, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Also officially, no gold has left Fort Knox in any significant documented capacity since 1974, aside from limited testing samples. Bessent has said he has no plans to travel to Kentucky himself, poin
