by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News August 17, 2026

After an inspection visit to Fort Knox, Sen. Rand Paul confirmed the gold was there. The Kentucky Republican then lamented the loss of the dollar’s purchasing power since the U.S. severed the currency’s link to gold in 1971.

“Yes, the gold is there all (approximately) 147 million ounces,” Paul wrote on X after the visit on Aug. 10.

Fort Knox holds 147,341,858.382 fine troy ounces of gold (about 4,580 metric tons), which is roughly half of the total U.S. government gold reserves. Located in Kentucky and managed by the Department of the Treasury, the depository stores standard gold bars weighing about 27 pounds each.

Confirming all the gold in Fort Knox is still in Fort Knox was only part of the story for the senator.

The larger lesson for the country, he said, is what has happened to the dollar while all that gold has remained in the vault.

Paul said the dollar has lost 97% of its purchasing power since the Federal Reserve was created in 1913, adding that $100 at the time had the purchasing power of more than $3,300 today.

“This is no accident,” he wrote. “Congress spends without limit, while the Fed prints the difference.”

Since the U.S. ended the dollar’s convertibility into gold in 1971, Paul said the currency has lost roughly 85% of its value.

That decline is being felt by American households through everyday prices, Paul said: “A family making $50,000 with two kids that has not received a 25% raise in the last five years is falling behind.”

Paul blamed the loss of purchasing power on government deficits and monetary policy. He said the U.S. runs annual deficits of about $2 trillion and said the Federal Reserve buys roughly one-third of that debt by creating new money.

“Every new dollar dilutes the value of the dollars already in people’s pockets,” Paul wrote. “Gold does not expand when Congress spends. Paper does.”

Freedom Rocks! Until It Is Gone

  the gold is there’: Sen. Rand Paul inspects Fort Knox, WorldTribune.com, yes