Trump demands ‘ANYTHING we can get’ from Ukraine as he pledges to see ‘if gold is still in Fort Knox’ with Elon Musk

DONALD Trump has demanded "anything we can get" from Ukraine in a marquee speech to his adoring fans. The Republican also pledged to find out whether tonnes of gold bars are still inside Fort Knox with his pal Elon Musk. Trump made the remarks demanding oil and rare earth minerals at a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday as his row with President Volodymyr Zelensky rumbles on.

He said: "I’m dealing with President Zelensky. I’m dealing with President Putin and I’m trying to get the money back or secured.". The President said that the US has given $350 billion in aid to the war-torn nation while Europe has given $100 billion.

He said: "Europe gave it in the form of a loan, they get their money back. "We gave it in the form of nothing so I want them to give us something for all of the money that we put up. "We're asking for rare earth, oil, anything we can get.". Trump then slammed his predecessor Joe Biden for failing to "get equalisation" with Europe regarding aid as he said the war "does not affect us" like it does the continent.

"How come we went so far out front and he didn't know that Europe gets its money back? It's not fair.". But the President says he believes he is "pretty close to a deal" despite a source telling Sky News that Zelensky is not ready to sign a "problematic" minerals deal with the US.

The deal proposed by Trump's team would see Kyiv hand over billions of dollars of minerals to Washington DC in exchange for weapons. The Ukrainian source said: "The agreement is not yet ready to be signed, there are a number of problematic issues, and in the current form of the draft, the president is not ready to accept it.

"Today, the drafts do not reflect a partnership in the agreement and contain only unilateral commitments by Ukraine.". As the split between the US and Ukraine continues to widen after Trump branded Zelensky a "dictator", Kyiv has held "productive" talks with US envoy General Keith Kellogg about the deal.

Kellogg has been seen as the mediator between Zelensky and the furious stance of the Trump White House. But it seems tensions are still on the rise as sources told Reuters that the US is threatening to cut Ukraine's access to Elon Musk's Starlink internet services if it fails to sign the mineral deal.

Three sources close the situation said that US negotiators raised the idea of cutting the country off after Zelensky turned down the initial proposal. Elon Musk took to X to deny the claims saying that they are "false". During his CPAC speech, the President said he and billionaire pal Elon are planning a trip to Fort Knox in Kentucky to check on the country's gold reserves.

He said: "Under our administration there will be no tolerance for social security fraud...We're also going to Fort Knox. "I'm going to go with Elon," he said as he called out the "corrupt people in the country. "We want to see if the gold is still there," he said as he joked about the reactions of onlookers if they opened it and found nothing there.

The President's comments echoed those he made on Thursday when addressing Republican governors at the White House. It came after Musk hinted on social media earlier this week that DOGE could launch investigations into the reserves. "Who is confirming that gold wasn’t stolen from Fort Knox?” he wrote on X.

"Maybe it’s there, maybe it’s not. That gold is owned by the American public! We want to know if it’s still there.". He later said: "It would be cool to do a live video walk through of Fort Knox!". Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant has since confirmed that an audit is carried out at the site every year and that "all the gold is present and accounted for.".

He added that "any US senator who wants to come and visit it can arrange a visit through our office.". The sprawling 109,000 acre site is not open to the public and "no one person" knows how to access the vaults. About half of the Treasury's gold is securely held at Fort Knox, with the US Mint saying that the current gold holdings there are 147.3 million ounces.

Trump also used his speech to praise Musk's work with the Department of Government Efficiency that is "waging a war on government waste, fraud, and abuse.". "Elon is doing a great job. We love Elon don’t we?. “He’s a patriot - people said ‘What official position does he have?’ I said ‘Patriot.’”.