Scott Bessent casually says the U.S. has more than $1 trillion in gold—and that it doesn’t matter for the dollar

Scott Bessent speaks inside the Oval Office. (Credit: Kevin Dietsch—Getty Images)

In May, President Donald Trump said in an interview he was eager to open the vault at Fort Knox to ensure the U.S. reserves of gold—valued at more than $600 billion—were still there.

Trump was doubling down on plans he and Elon Musk, then-head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) made last year, calling on an audit of the reserves to delve into conspiracies that gold had been stolen.