Alcatraz stopped being a prison in 1963, before I was born. I did take a tour of it on a trip to San Francisco decades ago and I remember it seemed small and pretty run down even then. But mostly in my lifetime what I remember is the movies about it. There was The Rock in 1996 starring Sean Connery and there were two Clint Eastwood movies set there, Escape from Alcatraz and The Enforcer.
But yesterday, President Trump announced on Truth Social that he was interested in reopening Alcatraz to once again make it a prison for the worst offenders. He posted his statement on X this morning.
REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ! For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering. When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate… pic.twitter.com/u1jOCMXeW5
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 5, 2025
…When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. No longer will we tolerate these Serial Offenders who spread filth, bloodshed, and mayhem on our streets. That is why, today, I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders. We will no longer be held hostage to criminals, thugs, and Judges that are afraid to do their job and allow us to remove criminals, who came into our Country illegally. The reopening of ALCATRAZ will serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE. We will, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
Alcatraz island was originally a military fort which became a prison in 1933 to house the worst of the worst.
“The Federal Government had decided to open a maximum-security, minimum-privilege penitentiary to deal with the most incorrigible inmates in Federal prisons, and to show the law-abiding public that the Federal Government was serious about stopping the rampant crime of the 1920s and 1930s,” according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Prisoners at Alcatraz had four rights: food, clothing, shelter, and medical care –– all other privileges, including visits from family or access to books, art supplies and music, had to be earned.
For all of its infamy, Alcatraz averaged a prison population of about 260 to 275 prisoners at any given time – less than 1 percent of the total federal jail population. Most of the prison’s inmates were among those who refused to conform to rules at other federal jails or who were deemed “escape risks.”
There were many escape attempts over the years. The one dramatized in Clint Eastwood’s movie Escape from Alcatraz resulted in three prisoners leaving and never being seen again. No one knows for certain if they survived the mile-long swim to San Francisco or if they died in the attempt. That escape happened in 1962 and the prison was shut down a year later, mostly because of the cost of operating it.
Alcatraz was shuttered “because the institution was too expensive to continue operating,” according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. It said operating the island prison was nearly three times more expensive than any other federal prison at the time.
“This isolation meant that everything (food, supplies, water, fuel…) had to be brought to Alcatraz by boat,” the bureau says. “For example, the island had no source of fresh water, so nearly one million gallons of water had to be barged to the island each week.”
Reactions from California Democrats are about what you’d expect.
In California, Scott Wiener, a Democratic state senator representing San Francisco, called Mr. Trump’s idea “absurd on its face” and the latest example of what he called the president’s “continuing unhinged behavior.”
A spokesman for Gov. Gavin Newsom laughed when asked about the president’s order. “Looks like it’s Distraction Day again in Washington, D.C.,” Izzy Gardon, the governor’s director of communications, said.
The Babylon Bee’s reaction seems to have been inspired by another great movie by John Carpenter.
Trump To Expand Alcatraz By Putting Up Fence Around San Francisco https://t.co/GwypfUUa4o pic.twitter.com/EsVL6oww3q
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) May 5, 2025
Here’s Trump’s response when asked where he got the idea to do this.
.@POTUS on reopening Alcatraz to house our most ruthless, violent criminals: “It’s a symbol of law and order and it’s got quite a history, frankly — so I think we’re going to do that, and we’re looking at it right now.” pic.twitter.com/YWfvfTDNaa
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 5, 2025
