Elon Musk: I'm 'Looking for the Gold at Fort Knox' [View all]

[Mr. Sparkle]

Source: Newser

DOGE is making inroads at the Treasury, the Social Security administration, the IRS, and a slew of other government entities—but can it get into Fort Knox? Elon Musk said Monday the famous gold repository is on his radar, reports the Hill. "Looking for the gold at Fort Knox," he tweeted, above a meme captioned, "annnnd it's gone." Musk also shared a post from GOP Sen. Mike Lee, who said he was refused permission to visit the military facility. Of the gold, maybe "it's there, maybe it's not," wrote Musk. "That gold is owned by the American public! We want to know if it's still there."

Another GOP senator, Rand Paul of the military base's home state of Kentucky, encouraged Musk over the weekend to audit the facility, reports Fox Business. "Surely it's reviewed every year," Musk had tweeted in response to a user's query on the subject on his X platform. Responded Paul: "nope. Let's do it." The senator—whose father, congressman Ron Paul, also amplified this issue—reiterated the point on Monday on Fox. "I think some of them may not think it needs to be audited all the time, but I think the more sunlight, the better, more transparency, the better," he said.

The US Mint says Fort Knox has more than 4,580 tons of gold, which would put its value at about $425 billion, per Newsweek. An audit of the facility, which does not allow visitors, could open a "can of worms" by revealing not only just how much gold is present but how much gets "leased," investment banker James Rickards tells the outlet. He described the arcane idea of leasing as "a way to inject more gold into the banking system than actually exists in physical form." Any discrepancies could roil gold markets.

Read more: https://www.newser.com/story/364448/elon-musks-next-target-may-be-fort-knox.html