President Donald Trump said his administration intends to ensure that the significant amount of US gold reserves held at Fort Knox is accounted for and accurate.
“We hope everything’s fine with Fort Knox, but we’re going to go to Fort Knox — the favorite Fort Knox — to make sure the gold is there,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Wednesday en route to Washington from an event in Miami.
“If the gold isn’t there, we’re going to be very upset,” he added.
The president’s comments come amid speculation over an idea that the US Treasury could revalue its gold stockpiles. The idea has gripped some on Wall Street even as people familiar with the matter say that the concept is not under serious consideration by Trump’s top economic advisers.
The speculation centers around the notion that the US Treasury could re-peg its gold holdings at a higher level — a move that would generate cash for the government. Such a move would likely require Trump to seek congressional approval.
Fort Knox, a US Army installation in Kentucky, holds little over half of the Treasury’s gold reserves. Gold was transferred there from New York and Philadelphia in the 1930s, in part to make it less vulnerable to foreign attack. Much of the rest of the bullion is held in facilities in Denver and West Point, New York.
