5 ms·

Trump says he will check amount of gold stored at Fort Knox

17 points by blindriver 2y ago

blindriver 2y ago
Anyone who is even remotely involved in precious metals knows that Fort Knox is the center of one of the biggest goldbug conspiracy theories. The story is that Fort Knox doesn't have as much gold as they are purported to have, which means that total US gold stores are less than they say they are, which means physical gold is worth much, much more than it currently is. It's the Holy Grail of gold conspiracy theories and the fact that Trump is going to audit Fort Knox is actually really hilarious. At this point I won't be surprised if he declassifies all of the UFO/UAP files.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- quantified 2y ago
  My understanding (sources absent) is that Fort Knox is more legend than fact these days anyway.
- elfbargpt 2y ago
  I hope they do check just for the sake of entertainment, but I can't imagine gold would be worth that much more if it was empty. I just googled and there's supposed to be about ~280 billion dollars of gold there. Which is a lot but I think there's about $12 trillion of gold in circulation
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
- rsynnott 2y ago
  > According to the depository's website, there are currently 147.3 million ounces worth of gold bars in Fort Knox. That's about 4,200 tonnes. Estimates vary, but total amount of gold worldwide seems to be in the 150k to 250k tonne range. So honestly it wouldn't be _that_ big a deal?
compootr 2y ago
https://archive.today/7oUWl https://archive.today/7oUWl
jethronethro 2y ago
Wondering if he's looking for some to decorate the bathrooms at Mar-a-Lago ...
- hilux 2y ago
  That was my first thought. If he decrees that the contents of Fort Knox be moved to Mar-a-Lago, who will stop him?
  - quantified 2y ago
    Everything he does as an official act is protected. So he can loot what he wants from the executive branch. I almost want him to go ahead and grab some, it'd be hilarious. Let's have a photo op with gold bars.
- rapnie 2y ago
  "Dear fellow Americans. The conspiracy theory that the gold no longer is at Ford Knox is hereby confirmed true. We are totally transparent. Wink wink."
- verdverm 2y ago
  I thought those are decorated with classified wallpapers, not gold
  - zo1 2y ago
    Trump even broke HN if this is the kind of discussion we're having as a result.
    - verdverm 2y ago
      I think we are having a bit of fun at the kings expense in this sub thread, we can use some Knox gold if the fun costs his ego too much
ggm 2y ago
Small tech moment: the Ex-head of ARIN, ex-ICANN board member was one of the bodies falling over in "goldfinger" (1964) by virtue of being posted to Fort Knox during the filming. The exterior shots are real. The interior shots are pinewood studios in the UK. That's not how the gold is actually stored.
SavageBeast 2y ago
At this point I think its more of a strategic reserve of gold for non-financial purposes. In terms of our budget/debt/spending its not a significant amount. We could sell it all and make not one dent in anything.
- smgit 2y ago
  He has to announce some bullshit every day to Capture Attention or someone else is going to get the Attention. And that puts pressure on him to keep announcing things, more than anything else. Given how the Attention Economy works Content keeps exploding, but eyeballs and time to consume it all don't grow at the same rate, so post frequency and absurdity of the posts shall grow with time. Keep count.
  - seanmcdirmid 2y ago
    Also, new bullshit today prevents people from thinking too deeply about yesterday’s bullshit. If Trumpers thought too long about yesterday’s report on those 150 year olds getting SS, they might realize all the holes in it, so distract. We are truly in an idiocracy.
aaron695 2y ago
[dead]
GianFabien 2y ago
I get the image of a different "Donald" diving into the vault: https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--5Gkdfpss--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/17kdjxvdqvygyjpg.jpg https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--5Gkdfps...
zgs 2y ago
Better check his pockets on the way out :)

17 points by blindriver 2y ago

Anyone who is even remotely involved in precious metals knows that Fort Knox is the center of one of the biggest goldbug conspiracy theories. The story is that Fort Knox doesn't have as much gold as they are purported to have, which means that total US gold stores are less than they say they are, which means physical gold is worth much, much more than it currently is. It's the Holy Grail of gold conspiracy theories and the fact that Trump is going to audit Fort Knox is actually really hilarious. At this point I won't be surprised if he declassifies all of the UFO/UAP files.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
quantified 2y ago
My understanding (sources absent) is that Fort Knox is more legend than fact these days anyway.
elfbargpt 2y ago
I hope they do check just for the sake of entertainment, but I can't imagine gold would be worth that much more if it was empty. I just googled and there's supposed to be about ~280 billion dollars of gold there. Which is a lot but I think there's about $12 trillion of gold in circulation
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
rsynnott 2y ago
> According to the depository's website, there are currently 147.3 million ounces worth of gold bars in Fort Knox. That's about 4,200 tonnes. Estimates vary, but total amount of gold worldwide seems to be in the 150k to 250k tonne range. So honestly it wouldn't be _that_ big a deal?

compootr 2y ago

https://archive.today/7oUWl https://archive.today/7oUWl

jethronethro 2y ago

Wondering if he's looking for some to decorate the bathrooms at Mar-a-Lago ...

hilux 2y ago
That was my first thought. If he decrees that the contents of Fort Knox be moved to Mar-a-Lago, who will stop him?
- quantified 2y ago
  Everything he does as an official act is protected. So he can loot what he wants from the executive branch. I almost want him to go ahead and grab some, it'd be hilarious. Let's have a photo op with gold bars.
rapnie 2y ago
"Dear fellow Americans. The conspiracy theory that the gold no longer is at Ford Knox is hereby confirmed true. We are totally transparent. Wink wink."
verdverm 2y ago
I thought those are decorated with classified wallpapers, not gold
- zo1 2y ago
  Trump even broke HN if this is the kind of discussion we're having as a result.
  - verdverm 2y ago
    I think we are having a bit of fun at the kings expense in this sub thread, we can use some Knox gold if the fun costs his ego too much

ggm 2y ago

Small tech moment: the Ex-head of ARIN, ex-ICANN board member was one of the bodies falling over in "goldfinger" (1964) by virtue of being posted to Fort Knox during the filming. The exterior shots are real. The interior shots are pinewood studios in the UK. That's not how the gold is actually stored.

SavageBeast 2y ago

At this point I think its more of a strategic reserve of gold for non-financial purposes. In terms of our budget/debt/spending its not a significant amount. We could sell it all and make not one dent in anything.

smgit 2y ago
He has to announce some bullshit every day to Capture Attention or someone else is going to get the Attention. And that puts pressure on him to keep announcing things, more than anything else. Given how the Attention Economy works Content keeps exploding, but eyeballs and time to consume it all don't grow at the same rate, so post frequency and absurdity of the posts shall grow with time. Keep count.
- seanmcdirmid 2y ago
  Also, new bullshit today prevents people from thinking too deeply about yesterday’s bullshit. If Trumpers thought too long about yesterday’s report on those 150 year olds getting SS, they might realize all the holes in it, so distract. We are truly in an idiocracy.

aaron695 2y ago

[dead]

GianFabien 2y ago

I get the image of a different "Donald" diving into the vault: https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--5Gkdfpss--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/17kdjxvdqvygyjpg.jpg https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--5Gkdfps...

zgs 2y ago

Better check his pockets on the way out :)