Rand Paul Goes Underground at Fort Knox to Inspect America’s Gold — [VIDEO]

Adriana Stone 0 2 min read

Rand Paul Goes Underground at Fort Knox to Inspect America’s Gold — VIDEO

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky went underground at Fort Knox on Monday to inspect America’s gold reserves. The visit put fresh attention on the nation’s bullion holdings—and on the long-running questions surrounding what is actually stored inside the heavily guarded facility.

According to the U.S. Mint, the last full audit of the gold reserves held at Fort Knox took place in 1953. A partial audit followed in 1974. Since then, rumors have circulated that some of the gold may have been replaced with gold-plated tungsten.

Paul addressed the inspection before heading below ground.

“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.

He made clear that the trip was about more than simply looking at the vaults. Paul also tied the gold reserves to the long-term decline in the dollar’s value since the United States moved away from the gold standard.

“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,” he added.

“So there is a problem. The media now calls this affordability, but what it really is is inflation.”

Paul then pointed to federal deficits and the Federal Reserve’s creation of new dollars as major drivers of rising prices.

“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 explained. “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.”

“I’m going down underground, and I’ll let you know what I see in a little bit,” Rand Paul said.

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After the inspection, Paul said the gold was present and shifted the focus back to the dollar.

“Yes, the gold is there all (approximately) 147 million ounces. It is impressive, but the real point is what it still teaches in 2026,” Rand Paul said later Monday.

He argued that ending the dollar’s link to gold in 1971 has had lasting consequences. His broader message was direct: Washington cannot keep expanding spending and debt without putting pressure on the currency and household prices.

“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,” Rand Paul said later.

The gold may have been the headline attraction, but Paul used the Fort Knox visit to make a larger economic argument. In his view, inflation is not just an affordability problem. It is the result of deficit spending, unbalanced budgets, and monetary decisions that have steadily weakened the purchasing power of the dollar.

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