Rand Paul Takes the Fort Knox Tour
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky went to Fort Knox in northern Kentucky on Monday to inspect America’s gold, a sentence that sounds simple until you remember this is Washington’s money vault, not a neighborhood coin jar. According to the U.S. Mint, the last full audit of America’s gold reserves stored at Fort Knox took place in 1953, with a partial audit in 1974. That long gap has helped fuel rumors over the years, including claims that the gold had somehow been swapped for gold-plated tungsten. Paul went underground to see the gold for himself and said the visit was also about a larger issue: what happened to the dollar after the United States separated it from gold in 1971.
The Message Before He Went Underground
Paul said the country has about 147 million ounces of gold, with about half of it stored at Fort Knox. Before heading down, he said he wanted to talk about what happened to the dollar after 1971, arguing that more than 85 percent of its value has been lost since the dollar was de-linked from gold. He also took aim at the polite modern phrase “affordability,” saying the real word is inflation. That is the kind of rebranding Washington enjoys, since “affordability crisis” sounds like a committee hearing, while “your money buys less” sounds like a grocery receipt.
Paul Says the Gold Is There
Later Monday, Paul said the gold was there, referring to approximately 147 million ounces, and called it impressive. But he said the bigger lesson in 2026 was not just the shine inside the vault. His point was that money policy still matters. He argued that prices are higher because the money itself has lost value. In other words, the gold tour did not end with a cinematic tungsten twist. It ended with a senator pointing at fiscal policy and saying the usual Washington magic trick has a bill attached.
Deficits, the Fed, and the Shrinking Dollar
Paul also tied inflation to deficit spending and unbalanced budgets, saying the federal government runs up debt as the deficit rises by about $2 trillion a year. He said part of that debt is bought by the Federal Reserve with newly created dollars, which leads to inflation. He said prices are up 25 percent in the last five years. In another post, Paul said the dollar has lost 97 percent of its purchasing power since the Federal Reserve opened in 1913, adding that $100 then is worth just over $3,300 today. His argument was direct: Congress spends without limit, while the Fed prints the difference.
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